A Heart Of Death
by Kennytheshark
Summary: With a crazy manticore, a killer, and danger right behind him, Nico is willing to do anything to find more about his past! Get ready for a son of Hypnos who doesn't act like one, elevators that get stuck, wacky weapons, and just plain awesomeness!
1. Chapter 1

A Heart Of Death

By Kennytheshark

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[Pick the date]

Chapter 1

"You may know who you are," said Hades, "but you don't know where you come from." Nico looked at his father's sad eyes. "Then why don't you tell me," reproached Nico. Hades' eyes wavered for a second but then replied in a steely voice, "The past is the past, and there is nothing that can change that." Hades' son returned in a similar voice, "But the past can teach us how not to act in the future.""Don't act smart with me, boy!" yelled Hades."No one can understand the pain and suffering I went through!" "I'm your son!" Nico cried, "If there's anyone who understands you, than it should be me!" With that, Hades remained silent for a moment but then roared in anger. "If you want to find out, do it yourself!" "How can I? I don't even know where to start!" Nico shot back. With that, the Lord of Dead replied, "The garden will hold the first step. But I warn you, the truth will only bring unbelievable pain." "I'll be back," said Nico, "And when that time comes, I'll be expecting answers." "What makes you think I'll give you the answers to your questions?" asked Hades to his son. Nico headed toward the exit of the room. "Don't you turn your back on Hades!" shouted Hades. "Answer my question! What makes you think I will give you the answer to your questions?" Nico looked back before exiting saying, "I don't. That's for you to decide."

Nico headed toward the garden of Persephone, fuming as he went. What could be so terrible that even Hades did not wish to remember? He stopped in front of the gateway to the garden. Ignoring the tempting food on the trees, he quickly chose a spot in the garden and began digging a hole. He grinned at the thought about the last time he did this. Persephone had spent a whole day begging Hades to turn Nico into a pile of weeds. Nico quickly got rid of his grin when he finished the hole. Persephone, Nico knew, was not kidding when she said that. He had seen her change razor sharp spears into pathetic sunflowers. Nico climbed out and headed toward the kitchen of the palace. He knew that the skeleton chefs wouldn't mind and if they did cause any trouble, he could just put them to sleep. Paying no notice to the eyeless sockets staring at him, he opened the fridge. There was nothing except a few burgers from who knew where and five old day chicken legs. Nico got a plate and starting piling the unappetizing food on it. With that done, he grabbed a bottle of soda off the dining table and headed back to the hole.

Dumping the contents in the hole, Nico muttered, "Let the dead taste again, let them rise and take this offering. Let them remember." With that a fog covered the hole. Ghosts surrounded the pit wanting to speak, but Nico simply shooed them away with a wave of his sword. "Bianca De Angelo, speak to me," whispered Nico. A ghost slowly drifted to the hole and took a sip of the content. The face of the ghost became recognizable. A girl in a Hunter's outfit with a bow slung around her shoulder now stood before Nico. "Why have you called me, Nico?" asked Bianca. "I need you to tell me about our mother, our family, and our lives before the Lotus Casino," replied Nico.

The ghosts around them became restless and some started to inch closer to the pit. "Back!" raged Nico. The souls faltered only for a minute before continuing to get closer to the contents of the hole. "Nico, do not ask me of it. If you want to know you must find it on your own," said Bianca. Nico asked, "But where do I start?" The ghosts were only inches from the pit. "Nico, I must go." "But" "Look to the Oracle, look to the Oracle," said the daughter of Hades as she disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nico was trying his best to make sense of all the things he heard. _Okay now all I have to do is to talk to the Oracle. Like that clears up anything. _Why was everyone unwilling to tell him about his mother or his past. Nico stopped next to Cerberus, who whined softly to the boy. With a sigh, he picked up the tattered and scarred rubber ball from the ground. He launched the ball high into the air over the middle head of Cerberus. The ones on its sides began looking at Nico asking silently, "_Why do you always give it to him, first?"_ Nico simply shrugged. There were worse things in the Underworld than not getting a rubber ball in your mouth.

Nico started walking toward the Fields of Asphodel. True, it was a boring place, but at least it was a place where he could think. He had gotten used to the inaudible sounds the ghosts made around him. Sitting down on the grass, he wondered if it was true that learning about his past would be worse than not knowing about it. He grimaced, _I don't care if it hurts, as long as I find about my past._

Jumping up, he whistled, a loud ear piercing whistle. A loud woof responded and a hellhound the size of a tractor bounded up next to him. Nico smiled and patted the dog softly on the head. "All right, Raze, how about taking me to Camp Half Blood?" asked Nico happily. The hellhound put its paws over its eyes. "Hey, it isn't that bad. You just have to take me to the borders," said Nico in a persuasive voice. The hellhound remained in the same position. "Fine, have it your way. I'll just have to do it myself," said in a not so confident voice. He knew that he didn't always end up in the place he wanted. The last time he had done this, he had ended up in the camp's restroom. _And that was definitely not the place I wanted to go._ Taking a deep breath, he began concentrating. In a few moments, a portal opened and Nico, still holding his concentration jumped in.

The trip like all the ones before was exhilarating. Of course, it always left him dead-tired but still, Nico definitely thought it was worth it. The spinning ride came to a stop and he could see the borders of Camp Half Blood. He took a step out of the portal and collapsed exhausted. He began dragging himself toward the boundary, nearly blacking out once. Nico knew that there were only three places in the world where he could sleep safely which are the Underworld, Camp Half Blood, and Death. He preferably did not want the third option. Finally, he succeeded in crossing the boundary and fell down face first on the ground unconscious.

He woke up finding himself face to face with a girl with red hair and green eyes. He started and quickly regretted it after feeling the cramps in his body groan. "Just rest," said Rachel, "you can tell me all about it after you rest." Nico didn't argue. His eyes felt like they were as heavy as boulders. "Thank you," he whispered as he went back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hades was sitting on his throne, considering what his son had said to him. Persephone was arguing with her mother, Demeter, about their opinions in favor and not in favor of cereal. "Cereal is good for the body and gives you something to chew on in the morning!" shouted Demeter. Persephone retorted, "Oh please, you can chew pretty much about anything in the morning. Waffles, pancakes, hamburgers, and doughnuts, you name it." With that statement, Demeter fumed. "All the so called 'food' you have mentioned are some of the most unhealthy breakfasts in history." "Mother, how many times do I have to tell you? I hate cereal and I'm pretty sure Hades does, too." After saying that, they both turned toward Hades. Hades had been dozing, much to the disappointment of the two goddesses. "Hades!" shouted the cereal lecturers. "Wait, what?" asked the Lord of the Dead. Persephone asked in a sweet voice, "We were just wondering if you agree that cereal is a horrid food."

Hades looked from one goddess to the other. Each of them were giving him the stare saying, _If you don't agree with me, then you might as well dig yourself a grave._ Fortunately, a Fury flew in, breaking the hostile silence. "My lord, I have a message from Chiron," she announced. "Very good," said Hades quickly relieved of finding an excuse to avoid answering the question he was asked, "What does it say?" With a flourish, the Fury unrolled a parchment and began to read:

Dear Lord Hades,

It has come to my attention that Nico has been found exhausted and that he has asked the Oracle for the answers to his past. However, I am concerned about his safety and wish that he does not do anything rash about it. It is most likely that he will be going on a quest and I would like your opinion about this.

Sincerely,

Chiron

Everything was silent for a few minutes until the Fury asked, "Shall I send a reply, my lord?" Hades said in a quiet voice, "Do not send any message back. Let Nico find his path on his own." The Fury nodded in assent and flew off. Persephone said teasingly, "Was that a compliment I just heard for Nico?" Demeter immediately picked up the idea. "Perhaps he would like to have some father and son time!" she cackled. Hades growled and said, "I do not!" "Isn't that sweet," continued Persephone, "You feel embarrassed just thinking about him." The Lord of the Dead was literally burning with anger. Black fire started forming around him and his eyes became filled with hate.

Persephone and Demeter stopped teasing immediately. They knew what Hades was like in a rage. And they knew that it was not going to be pretty. Luckily, Hades calmed down but still was angry at the two goddesses. He knew about Nico's past and when Nico found out, he would be in no mood to talk. Especially, with his father who didn't really act like one.

Hades started toward the exit. Persephone, still feeling good about teasing Hades, asked, "Do you hate cereal?" The Lord of the Dead stopped before exiting. "Yes!" he shouted and stomped out in rage leaving Persephone with the taste of victory in her mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nico was sitting in the Big House with Chiron and Rachel. Both had worried looks on their faces. Ever since Nico had heard the prophecy from Rachel, he'd looked like he'd faint. "Will you tell us what the prophecy said?" asked Chiron gravely. He knew that most prophecies usually had at least one negative thing in it. And by the looks of Nico, the prophecy obviously had more than one. Rachel was resting on a couch after being hijacked by the spirit of the Oracle. She had always hated the fact that it could happen at any moment. She thought silently, _Why couldn't there be a on/off switch for the spirit of the Oracle?_

Nico sighed heavily; he had a bewildered look in his eyes. "The prophecy is something I would not like to share right now, if you don't mind," said Nico softly. "Of course," said Chiron nervously. Rachel racked her brain to remember what the prophecy said. She couldn't. It was almost like someone was blocking her from remembering. After a few moments, Rachel simply shrugged. _Ah well, who knows. I might find out what it was later._

After a few minutes of silence, Rachel asked slowly, "Could you at least tell us the summary of the prophecy?" Nico looked at her for a moment, and then turned away. "Fine!" he said. "I'm to go back to the Lotus Casino and find a clue of my past which will lead to many others. I'm also to take two friends and come back in five days, happy?" "Whoa, calm down, Nico, why are you so upset?" asked Rachel. "It's nothing." "Oh yeah, I'm suppose to believe that." Chiron intervened saying, "Now, now, that's enough. Nico I'd advice you stay here for now." "Why?" Chiron's tail twitched nervously. "I, um, sent a letter to your father. It is wise to wait for his reply." Nico shouted in protest. "I don't need to get permission from my father. He himself said I should go find out my past by myself." Chiron said gently, "Yes, I know but it is best if we wait." "You heard the prophecy; I'm supposed to be back in five days!" Rachel quickly added, "Maybe his reply will come today." "And if it doesn't?" asked Nico. "Then we'll improvise," said Rachel confidently. "Nico, why don't you busy yourself in finding the two friends who are suppose to go with you. Nico stomped out of the Big House leaving Rachel and Chiron behind.

The camp was bustling. Ever since the Titan War had ended, the number of campers had skyrocketed. Nico had to keep moving to avoid being trampled by the mob of half-bloods going back and forth with their business. The Hades cabin was a comfortable place, at least for Nico. He enjoyed the dark lighted rooms inside and it was pretty impressive with gold walls and jewels embedded in the posts of the beds. However, Nico had no care for the dazzling jewelry. He hardly noticed them. In his opinion, the world would be a safer place without them.

Lying down on a couch he frowned in concentration. Who would he choose? "Can't be Percy or Annabeth," he said sadly to himself, "They're out traveling to Hoover Dam." "Travis, Stoll," Nico suggested to himself but then quickly shook his head. He let out a big sigh. Perhaps things would be better after a good nap.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys, sorry about for not updating so long. I had a cold so bad that I had to go to the hospital. Anyway, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Chiron was in his wheelchair and Rachel was twisting her bright red hair around and around. Both were anxious and a bit nervous of what Nico would do. Rachel asked, "Do you think he'll listen to our advice?" Chiron shook his head. "He is strong willed to the point of stubbornness. However, every child should have the right of knowing their past." Rachel was thinking about her parents. They weren't exactly the best parents. Yes, they were rich, but they didn't always agree with their daughter. She wouldn't have really minded the fact that she couldn't remember them. But to know nothing about her past, she shivered at the thought.

Chiron was having some problems with the possibility that Nico had not told the truth about the prophecy when he last spoke with them. He shuffled nervously in his wheelchair and sighed. Teaching heroes was not easy. The only upside was that it was never boring, though, that was not always a good thing. Rachel jumped up suddenly. Chiron raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what was the matter until Rachel dropped back down. Filled with curiosity, the mentor of more than a thousand heroes, asked, "What was it? What happened?" "I just remembered a part of the prophecy but the memory lasted only for a second before disappearing," said Rachel. "

Do you remember anything, a word, a clue?" The Oracle concentrated for a few moments before replying, "I think I heard the word 'two' but I'm not sure." Chiron scratched his beard in thought. "The end of the day draws near and Hades has not sent back a reply," the centaur stated worriedly. "What happens if it doesn't reach camp today?" asked Rachel.

"I'm afraid we have no choice but to continue to wait?" "Wait?" Rachel cried. "Nico won't ever hear of it." "Exactly, that is why we are not going to tell him that" "Then what do we tell him?" asked Rachel desperately. Chiron looked at her saying, "We'll have to lie." Rachel started to nod in agreement but then stopped. "Who's going to do that?" "Well, um," Chiron stammered, "I was hoping you could do that, my dear." Rachel stared at the centaur like he'd gone crazy. "Are you kidding me?" she asked and shouted at the same time. "He practically hates me!" "Rachel, we have to do it for Nico's sake," pleaded Chiron. "Then why don't you do it?" "I'm not good at lying," he simply stated back.

Rachel, of course, knew that he was lying about him being a bad liar. He was probably the most successful liar in history. Hey, when you've lived for a few thousand years, you tend to master skills most people can't. Rachel threw her arms in the air in defeat. "Fine, I'll do it!" Chiron smiled and heaved a sigh of relief which was cut short by Rachel's statement. "On one condition," she said with a mischievous smile, "you wear the hilarious looking shirt the Stolls brothers gave me, on my birthday." Chiron's smile vanished into a frown. This was not looking good. "And might I ask, what kind of shirt this is?" Rachel whispered the answer in his ears. The Oracle left the Big House with a huge grin on her face. In the Big House, Chiron sat in his wheelchair with a very miserable face.

**Okay then, please review and give me a heads up if things get boring. Please feel free to give advice and ideas to help make the story better.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I've been running into writing blocks these days. Please review so I can get some ideas on what to write in the story. Thanks and please enjoy the story.**

Chapter 6

Nico woke up feeling refreshed and energized. But he quickly lost that feeling after remembering the prophecy. He knew that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't change fate. Sighing, he looked up into the night sky and decided to make his final decision, to run away. He reached for a backpack and paid a visit to the shop meaning, blending in with the shadows to _borrow _some things. After filling the back with the _borrowed _objects, he silently headed toward the boundary.

But stopped, "_Stupid",_ he said to himself. He had left his sword in the cabin. Cursing himself for forgetting, he started to jog toward his cabin. How he wished that he could have a sword like Percy's. He would never have to worry about where his sword was again because it'd always be in his pocket. Entering the cabin, he quickly found his sword and was about to strap it to his side when he heard a voice behind him. "And just where do you think you're going?" Nico spun around to face a suspicious looking Rachel. "Um, uh," he stuttered as he took a step back.

Rachel started tapping her shoe on the floor. _Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap._ The sounds made it hard for Nico to think up an excuse. _Think something up,_ his mind screamed. "Just going to the arena to practice," he said as casually as possible. Rachel shook her head in disbelief. "How could you train with someone if one cut can suck the soul out of their body?" Yet again, Nico cursed himself for making such a bad response. "I was just going to practice on the dummies," he said trying to cover up his mistake. Rachel looked at him for a second and said, "Sometimes I wonder who's dumber, you or Percy." Nico didn't respond.

After a few minutes of silence he said, "I'm running away and there's nothing you can do about it." "I just came over to tell you that Chiron received a letter from Hades. He says that he's changed his mind and wants you to stay at camp for a while." Nico reached down to pick up the backpack which he had dropped when Rachel had caught him. After slinging it on his shoulders, he asked, "How dumb do you think I am?" Rachel smiled. "Not too dumb, at least." Nico headed toward the door and asked, "You're going to tell Chiron that I'm leaving, aren't you?" Rachel replied, "That is, unless I can go with you." "What!" Nico exclaimed. He blushed and looked away.

"It's too dangerous," he said quickly. "Too dangerous for the Oracle, that's a first," replied Rachel just as fast. Nico glared at her. Fine you can come along if you like, but I warn you it's not going to be nice." With a grin Rachel asked innocently, "Aren't all quests like that?" Nico was already heading outside when he said, "You can bet the world on that."

**What'd you think? Sorry it's a bit short. Anyway, please R and R.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys! Thanks for your reviews! I'm sorry I haven't written for so long. So please enjoy the story. **

Chapter 7

Nico and Rachel quietly made their way to the entrance of Camp Half Blood. Slowly without making a sound, Nico scanned the area for harpies or any camper watching them. In contrast, Rachel was panting and made more than a little noise. Nico winced, as Rachel stepped on a twig. "Can't you make less noise?" he asked in a low voice. "Sorry," she said quietly. The son of Hades rolled his eyes. _What good was it if you could tell the future, if you got caught by who-knows-what?_

Nico, before deciding to run away, had considered the option of using of shadow-traveling but quickly discarded the idea. He had never tried shadow-traveling two days in a row. There was no telling where he'd end up, especially in Las Vegas. So he had decided to just use a cab. The problem was that there was a 99% chance that there would be no taxi cab roaming the countryside at this time of the night. Unfortunately, Nico had not considered that big fact until it was too late.

"So," Rachel started, "how do you plan on getting us to Las Vegas?" Nico skidded to a halt. The Oracle let out a big sigh. "You know, I think even Percy would think of that." Blushing a bit, Nico looked down at his shoes. _Great,_ his mind told him, _you can't even form a plan correctly and say that you have to find your past._ Rachel shook her head and dug a phone out of her pocket. Nico was so emberassed, he didn't notice until he heard her speaking to someone.

A half an hour later, they were flying in a helicopter bound for Las Vegas. Nico was grateful for the transportation but was a bit embarrassed. Rachel, however, acted like it was nothing and was calmly playing a game on her phone. Finally, after a few minutes, Nico asked, "So, uh, is this helicopter yours or…..?" Rachel shook her head. "This helicopter is mainly for my parent's use but I'm allowed to use it for emergencies." Nico wasn't sure if Rachel's parents would enjoy the idea of their daughter hanging out with the likes of him.

"So what is this Lotus Casino that I've only heard about?" Rachel asked curiously. Nico shuddered at the name of it. It was the main reason for not remembering his past and the idea of brainwashing a person's entire life still haunted him. Shaking the thought out of his mind, he proceeded in telling her everything. When he was finished, Rachel's face had become pale. Nico had seen the same reaction from many of the listeners who had heard about the Lotus Casino.

Rachel looked out the window, quietly thinking. _What would it be like to live forever and yet forget everything?_ She knew that, if given the chance, the Lotus Casino would trap them and if they couldn't get out, then they would be in there for a long time. Strangely enough, she wasn't too scared. Living in a world of demigods and knowing that they exist, you learn to get used to the fact that there's always something nasty that will show up, eventually. Suddenly, she was struck by a question. "Hey, Nico, you said that you needed two companions. Then how come you didn't choose another one besides me?" "Uh, um, uh," he stuttered. Suddenly the helicopter careened forward toward the ground below. They both screamed as the chopper crashed.

**Cliffhanger! I'll try to write the next chapter as soon as possible. Please review and feel free to give me any ideas to help make the story better.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay, Chapter 8 is here!**

Chapter 8

Nico woke up finding himself on the floor of the chopper with sand all over his body. He gingerly touched a bruise on his head. Gasping in pain, he placed his hand back at his side. He took a look around, as he brushed the sand off. Suddenly, he remembered Rachel. "Rachel!" he cried, "Where are you?" A small voice answered him. "Nico, I'm over here." He hurried toward the back of the helicopter, finding Rachel clutching a badly sprained ankle. Besides the ankle, she didn't seem seriously hurt.

"Are you all right?" Nico asked. Rachel smiled. "Nothing but a sprain," she replied. With that, Nico let a sigh of relif. But quickly said, "I'm going to try to find out what caused the crash." The Oracle nodded and tried to settle herself into a better position. Nico first started with the cockpit. The pilot was dead which was not surprising, considering that the chopper had landed headfirst. However, what caught Nico's eyes was a spike protruding out of the steering equipment. Looking at one of the windows, he saw a hole where the spike had penetrated the glass.

_Who could have done this?_ Nico's mind echoed with this question as he headed toward the passenger seat area. Rachel had created a hand-made crutch from a broken off pole. She asked, "What happened?" "Someone threw a spike which hit the steering instruments." "Someone or something?" she asked nervously. Nico shrugged. "Whatever it was, it didn't want us to make it to Las Vegas." "Then what do we do?" Nico looked over the desert they were in. He knew that they wouldn't last long without food or water but that was the least of his troubles.

Whatever had shot the chopper had done it for a reason and Nico was pretty sure why. There was only one way out of there. "We're going to have to shadow-travel," he said quietly. Rachel hesitated for a moment but then nodded. Nico was a bit taken back. He had expected her to say 'no' or 'are you crazy' but he guessed that the Oracle wasn't as helpless as she seemed. "You're going to have to take my hand," he said embarrassingly. The Oracle didn't even protest and took his hand. "Okay, just be prepared for a very quick and dark trip," Nico warned. Rachel started to nod but stopped. "Have you ever shadow-traveled with two people before?" "Nope," he answered as he summoned a portal. Rachel took a step back and asked, "Then don't you think it's a bit risky?" With a nod, he replied, "Yes, but it's better than staying here to be monster chow." Hand in hand, they dove in.

Rachel found the trip terrifying yet amazing. It was like a rollercoaster going superfast in the dark. In just a few moments, the darkness ended and she found herself outside with huge hotels towering over her. She was about comment Nico on accurate traveling, when she heard a thud beside her. _Oh no, _she thought. Rachel had heard about how tired shadow-traveling left Nico and she could only imagine how exhausting it was to take a passenger.

She opened his backpack looking for anything to help him. _What was it that demigods ate to heal themselves?_ She asked herself. Suddenly, she found square pieces of a weird looking food, ambrosia. Quickly, she took a piece and fed it to him. His bruise on his head started shrinking and he started to relax. She knew that she couldn't take care of him on the sidewalk, already people were staring at them. Then she came up with a bright idea. With care, she dragged him to a hotel entrance and had a quick talk with the recipients which ended with a credit card.

**Phew, this was really long. All right, please read and review. And remember feel free to give suggestions.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**I got a request to make my chapters longer so here it is, enjoy!**

Nico woke up on a great comfortable bed. In fact, it was so nice that he was tempted to just fall right back to sleep. But reality forced him to sit up. A nerve-racking pain shot up in his arms. Nico cried out in pain and fell back onto the bed. Suddenly, he remembered the shadow-traveling. When they had gone into the portal, Rachel seemed like a dead-weight making every second inflict excruciating pain on his arms and their joints.

Slowly, without moving his arms, he took a look at his surroundings. With a jolt, he realized that he was in a luxurious penthouse. A huge TV spread across almost half of a wall and under it, all the game consoles ever made. Not to mention, a whole bookcase devoted to videogame CDs. Many expensive pieces of furniture dotted the apartment and there was a hot tub, totally decked out patio, a full stocked kitchen, and so much more. Nico was admiring his surroundings when he realized that two words dotted almost everything in the penthouse, 'Lotus Casino.' He threw off the covers and was rewarded with two arms screaming in pain. Doing his best to ignore it, he jumped off the bed and looked around for his sword.

After a few minutes, he found it leaning against the door. Nico let out a sigh of relief. _At least, I won't be completely defenseless when something goes wrong,_ he though to himself. "Looking for something?" a voice asked behind him. Quick as a flash, Nico swung his sword at the speaker. With a yelp, Rachel dropped down onto the floor. "I hate it when demigods do that." His arms ached from the use of the sword and Nico quickly sheathed it. "Then don't surprise us out of our wits," Nico replied defensively. Rachel just shrugged and pulled something out of her pocket. It was a green credit card with the title of the hotel on it.

Quick as a flash, Nico swatted the card away with his hand and was about to consider flushing it down the toilet when Rachel stopped him. "Nico, what are you doing!" "Out of all the hotels in Las Vegas, why did you choose this one?" Rachel huffed and replied, "What else could I do? I had to get you somewhere you could rest. Besides, it's been a whole day and I haven't been brainwashed or anything." Nico became silent for a moment and then apologized, giving the card back to her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be like that. It's just this place; it's the main reason that caused me so much pain and confusion." Rachel nodded in understanding and said, "Anyway, I think that I may have found a clue." "Really, that's great! What'd you find?" "Uh, actually I guess it's more like I found a clue about where a clue is." Nico gave her a blank look which she ignored.

"You know the books that some hotels have with their guests' names in it." Nico nodded. "Well, I have a feeling that if we find your name, there might be some more information about you, like an address or a phone number. "You do know that I lived a way long time ago?" "Yeah, but still it ought to show something." Nico considered it for a moment. It was worth a shot and who knew, maybe he would find something after all. "All right then, but I have a question." Rachel asked curiously, "What is it?" "Why hasn't the Lotus Casino done anything to you? I mean do you feel weird or anything?" Rachel shook her head. "Nothing, maybe it's because I'm the Oracle or maybe it's because it's not as strong as it used to be." Nico thought about the possibilities but then shrugged it off of his mind. _Hey, it's just a hotel. What could be worse than a crash in the middle of the desert,_ Nico asked silently as they headed out the door and into the elevator.

Rachel realized something was wrong with Nico, after a few minutes in the lobby. She knew that Nico was usually serious and rarely became distracted but here he was gawking at the entertainments and the rides of the hotel. When she had come into the hotel, she barely gave a glance to them and this was no different. However, Nico was quite on the contrary. "Wow," Nico shouted, "they've got everything, an arcade that's open 24/7, a movie theater that holds all the latest movies, and even a ski jump." "Nico, focus!" she said sharply. "Huh, oh yeah, um, could we just try the ski jump?" "NO!" "Ah, come on, please?" he said like a little kid asking his parents for a toy he really wanted. Rachel rolled her eyes and starting pulling him toward the recipient's desk. "No fair!" Nico huffed.

"Can I help you?" asked a middle-aged man in a tuxedo. Rachel was about to ask her question when Nico barged in. "What's on the second floor?" The man smiled and replied, "We have the state-of-the-art archery range, a spa, some five-star restaurants, and of course, our lovely yoga-class. Rachel raised an eyebrow. She had never seen Nico this excited before. When she looked closely at his eyes, she saw his pupils' color turn duller. "Nico," she warned. The dullness left his eyes and he blinked for a few moments, before asking, "Could we see your guest-book?" The man looked surprised but opened a drawer and pulled out a thick book. The book's cover looked thousands of years old and it had some incomprehensible writing on it. "Now," the man started, "what do you need to know?"

Rachel replied, "We're looking for two of your former guests, Bianca and Nico Diangelo." After a few minutes of looking, he pointed at the two names on a page asking, "Are these people you're looking for?" Nico and Rachel nodded. "We'd like to know more about them, if you please," said Rachel. "Well, let's see, hmm, there's nothing here except a-." The man was interrupted with a crash at the main door. There standing among the broken glass, stood one of the monsters he would never forget in a hundred years, the manticore.

**Whew! This sure is long. I've got to stop making cliff-hangers! Or should I? Please give me your opinions if you think I should lower the amount of cliff-hangers. ** **Besides that, please review! **


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm so sorry for not writing so long! I didn't have internet for a long time. Anyway, ****I would like to thank Wormthunk for his review and suggestion. I agree that if I have to write cliff-hangers then I must write the chapter much longer. Besides that, please enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 10

Nico froze. The manticore brought back many bad memories which Nico decided that he really didn't need. The man in the tuxedo calmly moved toward the manticore in an orderly pace. Everyone else, except Rachel and Nico, went back to whatever they were doing, completely ignoring the huge monster in front of the entrance. The man said politely, "I'm sorry, sir, but this hotel does not allow monsters. We don't even allow pets and there's no telling what you could do to our customers. The manticore barely listened. He was darting his eyes back and forth across the lobby until he saw Nico.

With a growl, he rushed toward Nico but was stopped by the man in the tux. "I'm sorry; sir, but rules are rules. Why don't you try the next door hotel? I'm sure they would love having a unique person like you." The manticore simply pushed the man aside and started to charge straight toward Nico and Rachel. With a sigh, the man brushed the dust off his tuxedo and let out shrill whistle. Out of nowhere, a dozen green uniformed men appeared. "I did warn you, sir, but now, I do believe we will have to dispose of you." The dozen men pulled out each a long whip and started lashing the manticore, forcing him back.

The monster tried in vain to move forward. The whips cracked against its sides and legs until with a cry of frustration, he raced out of the hotel. Most of the people in the lobby hadn't even looked at the commotion and the ones that did, quickly went back to what they were doing. "Now," said the man as if nothing happened, "where were we?" Nico gulped down the fear that had crawled up his throat. "We were wondering about the information about Bianca and Nico di Angelo. "Ah yes, there's nothing here except their room number. Is there anything else you need to know?" Nico was about to object but Rachel cut in, "What's their room number?" "Room 517," the man replied.

"Has anyone else checked into that room?" Rachel asked. "Um, no, it is the only room that has been used only once." "Can we have the key card for it?" "Of course, but might I ask why you want to look into it?" "They wanted us to pick up some stuff they forgot," replied the Oracle. The man nodded his agreement and handed Rachel the key card. She was about to ask another question when she realized Nico was not with her.

"I do believe the young man is inspecting the arcade," said the man with a grin. Rachel spun toward the direction the man was looking and couldn't believe her eyes. Nico, the sullen and introvert boy, was running from game to game with so much enthusiasm that Rachel wondered if he had drunk too many cups of coffee. But there was something wrong with him and Rachel soon found out. Nico's eyes were so dull that they look like the color of grey. He screeched to a halt in front of huge TV screen with a gun console in front of it and immediately grabbed his Lotus Casino Card and stuck it into a slot. Instantly, the game started and before long, Nico was blasting away at aliens from a distant galaxy.

Rachel jogged over toward Nico and asked, "Don't you want to see if there's anything in your room?" Nico didn't respond and continued to blast away at some aliens coming aboard a ship. "Nico, snap out of it," she said shaking his shoulder. Nico simply shrugged Rachel's hand off, as if it was nothing. The Oracle took a huge breath and screamed into Nico's ear, "NICO!" "Huh, what?" "Come on, we've got to get to your room." "Uh," he stuttered, "how about right after I finish this level?" "No," Rachel said firmly. "I don't want to go right now. Can't we just wait till later?" "Nope." "You go on ahead; I'll catch up with you, after I finish this game."

After a few minutes of trying to convince Nico, she gave up. "Be there in ten minutes, got it?" Rachel asked. Without looking up Nico replied, "Um, sure, whatever." The Oracle raised an eyebrow but headed toward the elevator. Unknown to her, the man in the tuxedo was watching her intently. After she entered the elevator, the man talked into a walkie-talkie saying, "A guest does not seem to be enjoying herself. Let's make sure she does."

Rachel was walking down a corridor on the fifth floor looking for the room number. 516 and 518 were right next to each other but there was no sign of 517. She frowned in concentration. _Maybe they destroyed it, _she thought to herself but then quickly cast out the idea. If they did, why didn't they throw away the key? Things did not make sense. Suddenly, it struck her. If there was one thing she remembered before going into the hotel, it was the fact that it was much higher any other hotel. To mortals, the Mist hid the reality and made it look like an average height building but the Oracle knew better. The Lotus Casino was a hotel the size of a skyscraper and with that fact in her mind, she also realized something else. The elevator only had ten buttons which she knew was wrong.

She thought, _There can't be ten floors unless…._ She raced to the elevator and pressed the up button. When the lift arrived, she quickly pressed the buttons 5, 1, and 7 in quick succession. The elevator lurched upward and started gaining speed. The screen showing the floor started adding up and before long, Rachel found herself on the 517th floor. When the door to the elevators opened, she only saw a thin corridor with a big door at the end. She walked slowly toward it and reached into her pocket for the key card. The plastic felt cold on her hand. With goose bumps on her arms, she placed the card in front of the handle. A click sounded the opening of the door. Slowly, she pushed it open and beheld the room where a girl and her brother might have stayed in forever.

Nico was having the time of his life. Games, movies, great food, and just basically fun was delightful. He had never felt like this before. At least, during the parts of his life that he remembered. He was just about to consider taking the yoga class until something nagged him from the back of his brain. Nico tried to remember but was soon distracted by the entertainments. _Ah well, _he thought, _it couldn't have been too important._

Rachel was amazed to find that the apartment she was in made the one she and Nico had been earlier in the day, look like a lean-to. Hades had made sure that Bianca and Nico's stay in the Lotus Casino was a pleasant one. She was awestruck by the magnificence of the apartment until she saw green suitcase next to a lamp. It was the only thing that was clearly not from the hotel. She ran over to it and was about to open it until she heard a crash behind her. The glass windows of the apartment were all shattered and there standing among the shattered pieces, stood the manticore.

Hades was yet again the witness to a cereal heated argument. But he decided that things had to change. "Cereal comes in many forms and flavors, not to mention that they are healthy for your body," insisted Demeter. Persephone shot back, "Cereal doesn't taste nice if you have a cranky old mother who always tells you that it tastes good." Demeter was about to retort back but was cut off by Hades. "Silence, can't you two argue about something else for a change?" The two goddesses looked at him curiously. "Like what?" they asked at the same time. "Well, um, there's always me." Hades mentally grinned. _They'll probably argue about how handsome I am or how strong I am. _Unfortunately for Hades, things did not go as expected. The two women smiled and Demeter started the argument with this question, "Don't you think Hade's underwear is just a little too small?"

**Yowza! I thought I'd never finish. Please give your reviews. I'm thinking of where the next clue should be. Any suggestions?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! As you can see, my chapters are getting gradually longer. I would like to know how many words I should average in each chapter. Please feel free to comment or post a suggestion.**

Nico was heading toward the snack bar for a drink. He felt like he could go on doing this forever. Who wouldn't like this place? It had everything a teenager could want. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the boy in front of him until it was too late. Nico bumped into him causing the boy to stumble and fall. "Oops, sorry about that," he apologized. The boy studied Nico for a moment before standing up and starting toward the elevators. "Hey, I said that I was sorry." The boy continued to walk away in the direction of the elevators. After pushing the button, he gave a piercing look into Nico's eyes.

In that moment, Nico's eyes became clear and he remembered the real reason he was here. Blinking a few times, he tried to look back at the boy but he was already gone. _Strange,_ Nico thought. Suddenly, he remembered Rachel and how he had promised to meet her in ten minutes. He had no idea how much time had passed, be it a few minutes or a few hours. "Oh man," he said to himself remembering the statement Rachel had given him back at camp, "I just hope she doesn't tell anyone about this." He sprinted toward the elevators ignoring the fact that he was being followed by a few dozen guys in green clothes including the man from the recipient desk. He clucked his tongues a few times before saying, "People these days just can't learn to enjoy themselves. Ah, well, when we're done with them, they'll want to stay here forever and we'll make sure they do."

Rachel was hiding in a wardrobe inside the luxurious apartment. Under most circumstances, this would have been quite odd, however, when facing a monster that would gladly tear her to pieces; she considered the idea of hiding a very good one. The Oracle shivered in fear as she heard a cracks and groans as the manticore crashed through the furniture. She knew that before long, the manticore would find her and after that, well, she really didn't know if she would live long enough to find out.

It took the mystery of the room 517 a few minutes for Nico to find out. Compared to the elevator in Olympus, the one he was in was way better and there was definitely better music. The last time he went on the elevator, some hippie dude was singing about world peace and why purple was better than red. Nico shook the ideas out of his head. There were worse things than hippie dudes who thought a color wasn't as good as another. As the elevator closed in on the 517th floor, Nico heard a crash and some screaming before it stopped abruptly. Right before the elevator doors opened, he drew his sword and got ready for a fight.

The group of men in green was casually following Nico from one of the other elevators. The recipient started tapping his foot to the beat of the elevator music. _Nothing beats pop music. If not, at least _it's_ better than the terrible music they have in the Olympus elevator, _he thought silently with a shiver. He'd rather become deaf than listen to that awful thing they called music. He considered the girl and boy that were the most recent guests. There was no doubt that they weren't the sort of people you saw every day. He was curious about what their identities were. But he knew that it would have to wait.

Nico was in what demigods call 'a problem' meaning that he had a spike embedded into his shoulder and his sword was twenty feet away and to top it off, the monster was the manticore. A mortal's 'a problem' looked small and insignificant in comparison. The problem with demigods' 'a problem' is that they usually leave you dead or with excruciating pain. Right now, Nico was experiencing the latter but was pretty sure if nothing helped him soon, he was well on his way to the first of the options. Rachel was unconscious from a flying chair which the manticore used as a missile when it saw her try to escape.

The manticore said with a grin, "You'll soon be feeling the poison course through your body which will be delightfully painful for you. After that, you'll have a score of nightmares as you drop into a coma and there's no telling if you'll wake up. If you do, then I'll make sure to put an end to your suffering." Nico knew that these were not empty threats. Already he could feel himself drifting off but fought to keep awake. The monster smiled and taunted, "Good, good, I like to see my victims fight the poison though they always lose unless they have an experienced healer on hand. Unfortunately for you, there are none available." The manticore cackled with laughter but was cut short by a voice at the door. "I'm sorry, sir, we did warn you but I'm afraid we are going to have to deal with you permanently. Immediately, men in green filed out from behind him. Each had a lasso with a strange button on the end. Nico was in so much pain that the world started to spin. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. His eyes shut tight as he entered a coma.

"Your attack on one of our guest will cause the others to question their safety," said the recipient calmly, "we will have to be rid of you to make sure you do not cause any more trouble." After the man in the tux had spoken, the men in green each threw their lassos with amazing accuracy. Each of the lassos tied themselves around the manticore's body parts. At the same time, they pressed each of their buttons on the handle. Arcs of electricity spread across the monsters body. It roared in pain but continued to put up a struggle. In a calm voice, the man in the tux ordered, "Take him away and make sure he doesn't escape." In unison, the men in green pulled the manticore out the door and into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. Rachel found it hard to believe that the recipient could act so cool and collected in the face of a huge monster.

In a swift motion, he picked up Nico and started toward the elevators. Rachel cast out the fear that had accumulated in her mind and asked in a hoarse voice, "Where are you taking him?" The man raised an eyebrow. He replied, "Why to the medical station, where else?" He continued on his way. Rachel was about to follow when she remembered the suit case. She hurried to it and zipped it open. Most of the objects in there were quite ordinary, clothes, a brush, and a few socks and underwear. A flash from a pocket of a pair of pants caught her attention. She dug into the pocket and pulled out a little oval brooch. In haste she put it in her pocket and followed the man in the tuxedo.

Nico woke up feeling an unbelievable amount of pain. _Why is it that whenever I wake up, I always feel like I was pounded by a waterfall, _he thought to himself. He opened his eyes and found himself in a white room lying on a white bed with an IV stuck in his wrist. With a groan, he tried to sit up. Instantly, his lungs seemed to squeeze shut and Nico desperately tried to breathe. He fell back onto the bed and immediately, the pain in his lungs disappeared. He tried to remember what had happened before but couldn't put a finger on it because he was so tired and distracted by the pain. After a few moments of searching his brain, he surrendered to sleep. _I'll remember much better if I'm rested. Nothing beats a great sleep._

Hades was getting more and more annoyed by the two goddesses continuous arguments about him. It made him long for the time when they would argue about cereal. He'd rather take on a thousand monsters than listen to the two women yak about everything disgusting about him. "Look at his hair," Demeter retorted, "it looks like a skunk made a nest out of it." Persephone giggled and teased, "Maybe it's because he's the skunk." Both laughed their hearts out while Hades fumed. He stood up and stalked angrily toward his bedroom. "Make sure your toes don't stick out while you sleep," shouted Demeter. "Oh, yes, we wouldn't want you to have cold feet, now would we mother?" "Of course not dear, but if he gets frostbite, then we can easily take his toes off by putting them in River of Styx. Hades slammed the door while the two goddesses laughed at him.

Rachel was having a drink while she waited to hear some news from Nico. Apparently, the Lotus Casino not only had the best entertainment, but also the best medical equipment. Even with the high tech equipment, the doctors had barely saved him. She considered the fact that this was just the beginning of the quest and already so much had happened. Sometimes she wondred how many demigods ever made it to adulthood or died peacefully. She was pretty sure what the answer was, not many.

With this much danger already happening, the Oracle wasn't too sure if Nico or her would make it back home in one piece. She sighed. "I believe that you are wondering about the state the young man is in, am I correct?" asked a voice behind her. She turned around and saw the recipient. She replied, "Yup." "He is fine but is in no condition to travel." Rachel looked suspiciously at the man and asked, "What makes you think that we're leaving?" The man smiled, "Oh, just a lucky guess," he said with a smile. Rachel was a bit crept out. "I'm afraid you've been mistaken, we're not going," she replied trying hard to make the man believe in the lie. "Good, we'll make sure you do and if you try to escape, we'll just put you back in," the man replied in a cool voice as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Rachel swallowed and nodded. "Now then, please enjoy yourself," the man in the tux said politely with a half smile. _Things just get better and better, _she thought sadly.

The man in the tux walked into the bathroom and took out a walkie-talkie. "Knock her out and take her to the detention center." "Yes, sir," a voice replied. He smiled. There would be two new cheerful guests in the hotel, if everything went as planned. Rachel was still a bit freaked out by the recipient's statement. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm and forced her toward the ground. She gasped in pain and shock. Above her, stood a man in the traditional Lotus Casino green suit raising a fist to strike. She braced herself for the pain but realized that she didn't feel anything except that the arm that was holding her down slackened.

When she looked up, she found herself looking at a slightly chubby boy with brown hair, holding a metal staff. "Are you all right?" he asked. She replied softly, "Yes.". "We can't stay for long; they'll send some people here when they realize that this guy didn't report back." Rachel nodded her assent and moved her legs that were stiff from fear. "What do we do?" she asked. "First, we need to find your friend before they do something with his mind." "Huh?" "I mean that they might brainwash him and he'll want to stay here forever." Rachel processed the information with horror.

They dashed into the elevator and the boy pressed the buttons 9, 9, 9. Immediately, the elevator lurched upward at record time speed. Rachel looked at the boy and asked, "What's your name?" "Samuel but people call me Sam." "Okay, Sam, how'd you know I was in trouble?" "I saw the recipient dude. He told one of his guys to knock you out so I decided that he was up to no good." She was silent for a moment before asking, "You a demigod?" Sam replied, "Yup, what about you?" "I'm Rachel but I'm not a demigod." Sam looked at her funnily. "What?" "How come you aren't like most people? You know, playing the games and enjoying the food." "I'm not really sure." "Hmm," Sam mused thoughtfully. "Who's your parent?" "Uh, which one do you mean? Is it the immortal one or the mortal one?" "The immortal one," Rachel replied. Looking at numbers increase, he answered, "Hypnos, god of sleep."

**Man oh man! Writing this much was super hard. Please review this chapter. I'm considering where the next part of the story will take place. Any suggestions? **


	12. Chapter 12

**I got a review to average my chapters like the Chapter 11. Well, here it goes.**

Chapter 12

Nico was awake but had his eyes closed. He had decided to play asleep to eavesdrop on some conversation. He wasn't disappointed. "We could use the drug or we could use the physiologist. Either way, it'll ensure that they will never leave." "Yes, even that girl will lose eventually." "How long do you think it will last before they surrender?" "Not too long. The boy will succumb pretty early, however, my concerns are the girl." "Don't worry, one of my men was sent to knock her unconscious. He'll bring her here and we'll make sure she enjoys herself." With that said, they exited the room.

_These guys are either extremists in pleasure or just plain crazy,_ thought Nico. _I gotta get out of here. _Knowing that any quick movement might cause him extreme pain, he slowly got up. A sharp pain shot up his stomach but other than that, there was no other pain. He looked around for his sword but couldn't find it. The longing for a sword like Percy's came back with renewed fury. Why did it seem that everything was against him? He stopped his search and looked at his surroundings. What he saw made him jump back in fright. He was in a cell adjacent to another cell, holding the manticore! Fortunately, the monster was asleep and apparently had not noticed Nico.

_Not yet, _Nico thought with a shiver. He crawled slowly toward the corner of the cell farthest away from the manticore. Nico wasn't sure what to do but he knew one thing. If that manticore found out that he was right next to him, then things would become ugly. He had a hard time believing that anyone could save him now. "_How could anything get any worse?" _he asked himself. Suddenly, the manticore snorted and opened its eyes. The first thought that came to mind when it saw Nico, lunch.

The elevator ride took about a minute but it was enough for a brief chat. "Sam, how come you aren't brainwashed or game-crazy?" Rachel asked. Sam raised an eyebrow replying, "I could ask you the same question." Each of them had a staring contest seeing who would back down first. Sam did. "All right, I'll tell you. Hypnos' children like me are pretty good with dreams and of course, sleep. Since the Lotus Casino, puts most of its guest in a dream-like trance I'm not affected." "How did you get here?" asked Rachel curiously.

Sam looked embarrassed and said, "My mom and I lived here in Las Vegas. We were poor but she was always an optimist. When I was a little kid, my mom told me that I slept too much and I guess she was right. I argued with her for a while and then decided to run away. It was the worst mistake I made in my whole life. After running for a while, I wanted to go back but found myself lost. No one would help me until I met a boy named Roger." Sam stopped momentarily but then continued. "He was a demigod like me and he told me all about how the Greek gods were real and about a place named Camp Half Blood where he had come from. He treated me like a brother." 

Rachel nodded wanting to hear more about his story. "One day, a monster chased us and we managed to hide in this hotel. But then, Roger got dazzled by the entertainments and food. It made him forget everything, even me." Sam sighed heavily. "He's still here but whenever I try to talk to him, he acts like I don't exist." "Why haven't you tried to escape?" Sam looked at her with a sad look. "I've tried but I can't do it. You saw what they did to that monster. They aren't afraid to do it again." "Then why are you helping us?" "What I meant is that I can't do it alone." "What makes you think we will all of a sudden help you?" "My dreams," Sam replied as the elevator doors opened.

Nico dodged another spike thrown at him. He had already felt what a spike could do to him, and he was not in the mood to feel another one. The manticore found it rather amusing that his prey was set right in front of him. "I'm impressed spawn of Hades. You are the first to survive my poison but don't worry. I'll make sure that you'll have enough poison in your body to kill ten men." In that instant, the manticore slung another spike. Nico dodged it but could feel his strength lessening. The pain in his stomach had spread to his lungs and every breath hurt. With his sword, he might have had a chance but here, he was just target practice. And one hit meant game over.

Sam followed by Rachel slowly crept towards a door with the words 'Detention Center' printed on it. A man in the Lotus Casino green uniform was guarding it. In his hands, he held a strange looking gun. Rachel was about to proceed forward until Sam stopped her. "Watch it, that gun he's carrying shoots out volts of electricity." Rachel looked at him with a funny face. "Seriously, it does. I got shot by it once." Rachel nodded and asked, "How do we get past then?" Sam grinned. "Leave it to me." With a flourish, he expertly acted like a boy lost in a hotel.

He walked toward the man who instantly aimed it at Sam. Rachel thought that any minute now, Sam would end up being electrocuted. "Uh, sir, could you please tell me where the I-Max Theater is?" Sam asked innocently. After hearing the question, the guard lowered the gun and smiled. He didn't notice the metal staff hidden behind the boy. The man started to say, "Right over th-." But he was cut short by Sam's hand as it smashed into the guard's arm causing him to drop his gun. While the man was still registering the pain, Sam expertly slammed his staff onto the guard's head. The man's body went limp and started to fall to the floor. The son of Hypnos swiftly caught the guard and gently laid him on the floor. "Sorry, dude," he apologized quietly.

Rachel asked, "How'd you know there was an I-Max Theater on the 999th floor. Sam shrugged. "When you try to escape, you tend to look everywhere." He was about to suggest that they keep moving but was intervened by Rachel's question. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Sam pressed a button and the door to the 'Detention Center' came open. "My dreams," he simply replied.

Nico was at the brink of falling down in exhaustion. The pain had spread to all over the body causing every movement to feel like fire burning inside of him. The manticore was getting pretty irritated and had started throwing multiple spikes at a time. "You can't dodge forever, son of Hades," it hissed. Nico knew, of course that it was right. At this rate, he might die of exhaustion rather than the poison. He wondered how much longer he could keep this up. Of course, he knew the answer, not very long.

Sam was considering which of the numerous amounts of hallways led to the cell Nico was in. _It would take forever to open every door and look inside for Nico and who knew what was in each room, _he thought grimly. Rachel was fiddling with the computer on a desk ignoring the fact that Sam had mentioned that there was a password. He was about to suggest that they start searching a hallway when all of a sudden, Rachel shouted, "Sam, get over here. I got into the folder telling where each prisoner is located."

"Great, but how'd you get past the password?" "It was pretty simple. Actually, all you have to do is just type anything that relates to this hotel. People usually do that so that it can be easy to remember." "Great, so what was it?" Rachel grinned and said, "Guess." Sam pondered for a moment before asking, "Lotus?" "Nope." "Flower?" The Oracle shook her head. "Fun?" Sam asked hopefully. Rachel let out a big sigh. "Now I wonder if all male demigods are thoughtless.

Don't you notice anything about the hotel and staff? Anything similar?" Sam looked at the computer, floor, and walls. Suddenly, it struck him. _Green. _"Is it green?" Rachel nodded as she scrolled through the files searching for Nico's label. "Well, that's dumb," Sam mumbled. Rachel looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Dumb, how can it be dumb? All a staff member has to do to remember the password is look at the walls, floor, ceiling, or even themselves." Sam was about to retort back until he heard a scream from one of the corridors.

The recipient was talking with one of the staff members until their conversation was interrupted by one of the gaurds bursting into the room. "Sir, we just found out that the boy was placed in a cell next to the monster." The recipient grabbed the shirt of the guard and ordered, "Get him out there!" After being dropped back down, the guard sped off. The man the recipient was talking to asked, "Who put him there?" The recipient shook his head and said, "That's the wrong question. The right question is 'Who moved him there?"

Nico knew it was over. When he saw one of the men in green come in, he thought he might be saved. Unfortunately, a spike into the heart ended the man's rescue. The manticore, Nico could see, was also getting tired, however in comparison with Nico, he looked like he was in top shape. Nico's vision was blurry and the pain was draining his strength and will to dodge. "Yes, son of Hades, surrender to death. It will be a permanent rest for you." Nico felt himself blinking out. He dropped to his knees and hands and started to gasp for air. The manticore smiled. "Now you die," he said as he raised his tail.

For Rachel and Sam, there was good news and bad news. The good news was that they found out where Nico was being held. The bad news was that they hadn't made a plan to get him out. Sam asked as he tried to form an idea in his head, "What do we do?" "Shhhh!" quieted Rachel and motioned toward the room. The door was partly open giving them a view of what was going on. It wasn't pretty. Nico looked like a corpse brought back to life. He was desperately dodging the spikes thrown by the manticore. Rachel studied the room looking for anything they could use. Looking at the ceiling, she found it.

Nico had managed to roll at the last second. A spike embedded itself on the part of the floor he had momentarily just been on. "These days you demigods are weak and stupid but that doesn't bother me. It means that you brats are easier to kill and that means I get to eat more." Nico shivered in fear and had a flashback of what his father had said. _But I warn you, the truth will only bring unbelievable pain._ If this was just the beginning, then was it really worth finding the truth? Nico's mind and heart shouted back their answers in unison. _Yes._ Slowly, he got to his feet and looked straight at the manticore's eyes. "I don't care what you do to me. I'm going to find my past even if I die in the process." "Then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed because you will die without knowing your past." Suddenly, the water sprinklers above them were activated.

Rachel jumped in and grabbed Nico and started pulling him out into the hallway. The manticore was distracted for only a moment before roaring in rage and started to throw spikes. Sam with ease deflected them with his pole, in doing so, he covered Nico and Rachel. When Nico was safely out in the hallway, Sam jumped out as well and slammed the door shut. "Come on," he shouted as he saw some men in green running toward them, "we have to go." Rachel replied in hasty voice, "Sam, Nico's too weak. He can't walk." Quick as a flash, he slung Nico onto his back and together with Rachel, they headed toward the elevators.

"Hey, you three stop!" ordered one of the men in front of the group that was chasing Rachel, Nico, and Sam. _Not going to happen_, thought Sam hurriedly. "Press the elevator button. I'll hold them off," ordered Sam. "But how can you take them all?" asked Rachel in disbelief. "Just do it!" Rachel didn't argue any longer. She pressed the button as she wrung her hands around as she waited impatiently for the elevator. Sam picked up the gun from the guard that had dropped it earlier and pointed it at the group. "Gain way!" shouted one of them and dived for cover. Others followed his example. Unfortunately for two of them, they didn't respond quickly enough. Sam gave each of them a good shock each. They dropped down unconscious. The other men took out their weapons which were identical to the gun that Sam held. This time he was the one who dived for cover. "Get to cover!" yelled Sam.

Rachel yelped and threw Nico behind a couch and dived in right behind him. It wasn't a moment too soon. The area they were in exploded with electricity. When the electricity arcs disappeared, Rachel took a peak of the room they were in. Scorch marks dotted the floor, walls, and ceilings and all electrical appliances except the elevator, were shattered. Sam returned fire forcing the men to stay low. "How much longer?" he asked. "919th floor," she replied. He nodded and pulled the trigger to let out another arc of electricity. Nothing happened. "Oh great," he said with dismay.

"What?" asked Rachel momentarily distracted from looking at the monitor showing the floor the elevator was on, "what is it?" "This thing is dead. How much more until the elevator arrives?" "Thirty more floors." The men in green realized that Sam had stopped shooting and fired their weapons. Sam and Rachel took cover again. "Now?" Sam asked hopefully. "Ten more floors," Rachel replied. The group, realizing that there had no return fire, started to charge toward the three teenagers.

The elevator arrived with a 'ding' and opened. Rachel knew that as long as she lived, she would never forget how comforting that little sound was. She pulled Nico into the elevator and shouted, "Sam, come on!" Sam threw the gun at the group and dove into the elevator. The Oracle pressed the close button as hard as she could. The elevator's entrance started to shut close but was stopped by one of the men's hand. Sam swung his pole smashing the hand back outside. The doors closed completely and the elevator started to descend. Sam and Rachel dropped onto the floor of the elevator, breathing heavily. "Where'd," she said after calming herself, "you learn to do those kinds of things?" Sam was about to reply but was again interrupted by Rachel which he was getting tired of. "Wait, let me guess, your dreams?" The son of Hypnos just nodded.

They stopped on the 517th floor to check the green suitcase. Rachel opened the door and they entered inside. Sam suggested, "I'll go guard the door. If I see anything, I'll whistle." Rachel nodded and walked toward the suitcase and searched for anything interesting. She found a journal by Nico, which held inside a very descriptive life in the Lotus Casino. She put that inside a bag she had got in a gift shop on the 678th floor.

Besides the journal, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the suitcase. She pulled out the locket she had found before and studied it. It was a relatively normal one, but then she tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. She looked for a latch but only found a keyhole. _Where's the key, _she asked herself in her mind. Suddenly, she heard urgent whistling from the door.

**Man, this chapter had a lot of action! Plenty of fighting and suspense but there's also a little mystery about the locket. Please, please, review! I really want to know your opinions about this chapter. **


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter will include some info about the journal. Enjoy!**

Chapter 13

Rachel again was inside the wardrobe but this time, she was stuffed next to a son of Hypnos and an unconscious Nico. She could hear some voices outside but could only make out a few words. Nico groaned as he shifted his body a bit. Sam clapped a hand over Nico's mouth his eyes wide with fear. The voices outside had stopped momentarily but then continued. Rachel mentally sighed in relief. She felt her bag making sure the journal was inside and then slid her hand into her pants pocket feeling the cool metal of the locket.

She looked at Sam who mouthed the words, _What do we do?_ She could do nothing but shake her head in dismay. There was no telling how long these guys would stay in the room and she knew of course that they couldn't stay in the wardrobe for too long. Ever so slowly, she opened a crack for her to see what was going on. She saw around five men in green all holding electric guns. Obviously, they had been ordered to stay here if the escapees had returned to the room. Rachel knew that surprise was on their side if they chose to fight their way out, but she was pretty sure Sam, no matter how well he fought, couldn't take on the whole group. There was also the unhappy fact that each of them held a weapon that you probably only see in a science fiction movie.

She was still thinking when all of a sudden, Nico's eyes fluttered open. Seeing Rachel, he was about to ask a question until Sam smacked a hand over his mouth. Recognition, confusion, and strangely, fear, filled Nico's eyes as he saw Sam. He struggled to pull away the hand and speak but was quieted by Rachel. She put a finger to her lips signaling him to be silent. With a finger, she pointed at the crack for him to see through. After a few moments of pushing and squeezing through, Nico managed to get a peek of the situation. In the smallest voice she could manage, Rachel asked, "Could you shadow-travel us out of here?" Ignoring the curious look from Sam, Nico shook his head.

He replied in a smaller voice, "Remember last time." Suddenly, the Oracle had a bad flashback and quickly got rid of the idea. "What do we do?" Nico pondered for a moment and then frowned. _This ain't gonna be pretty_, he thought wistfully. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate. Sam was more than a bit confused and looked at Rachel for answers. Rachel mouthed back, _I'll tell you later._ A clacking sound could be heard outside the window. The group of men stopped chatting and looked curiously at the glass. Nico was now sweating and his forehead was scrunched up with focus. One of the men walked over to where the sound was coming from and looked down.

With a girl-like scream, he jumped back. A skeleton crashed through the glass and landed in front of the group of men. With shouts of fear and horror, they raced out of the room followed by the skeleton. Sam's jaw was wide open with awe and unbelief but was pulled out of the wardrobe by Rachel and Nico. "We have to go," said Nico hastily. "I only ordered it to chase them to the lobby." Sam stumbled over the words, "You-skeletons and they were-uh-what-how?" Nico was getting pretty tired of the reaction when people saw what he could do for the first time. "I'll tell you all about it later. Right now, we have to run." Sam gulped and nodded while gripping his staff tightly. Nico spotted his sword and snapped it back onto his belt. _Finally, I get this thing back. Now more than ever, do I want a sword like Percy's,_ he thought. Rachel had equipped with one of the guns a guard had dropped. "Let's go."

They had to wait for a few minutes for the elevator. Sam said with a shiver, "If it took this long for the elevator to come, then the skeleton probably got them." "Nah," Nico said, "they just took the emergency exit." They all looked at an open door presenting a tower of staircases. "They're more likely to die of exhaustion from running down those stairs then dying from the skeleton," Nico said calmly. Rachel and Sam each had a feeling that he was right. "Uh, anyway," Sam stated awkwardly, "I think it's about time that I introduced myself." "You don't have to." Rachel raised an eyebrow as Sam asked curiously, "Why?" "Because you're not going."

The recipient asked one of the men in green, "What of the group we stationed at Room 517?" "Nothing, sir, they haven't reported back." The recipient rubbed his chin and considered an idea he had held back until now. "Lock down all elevators and get some men to check each of them," he ordered calmly. The man he was talking to asked, "What makes you think that they're in the elevators right now?" "That," the recipient replied as he pointed at one of the security camera monitors. The screen showed three teenagers chatting in an elevator.

"What do you mean I'm not going?" Sam asked almost shouting. "Look, I appreciate that you helped save me and we'll escape together but after that, you have to leave." "Are you kidding? I've waited forever for a friend. I'm coming with you. You're gonna have to chain me to a tractor to stop me from going with you." The Son of Hades considered the idea but decided not to after looking at Rachel's piercing eyes. Nico desperately looked for a reason why Sam couldn't come with them. He failed. Rachel was getting angrier by the second at Nico. _What's his problem? He should know that even though he's the leader of the quest, he needs help._ "Nico, the prophecy said itself that you were suppose to go with two people. I was the first and Sam's the second. You can't change it."

Nico looked like he was about to explode with frustration when the elevator jerked to a stop. The three of them all lost their footing and fell onto the floor. Sam groaned and asked, "What was that?" It was in that moment, that Nico saw the security camera facing them on a top corner of the elevator. With a slash of his sword, he destroyed it. "I should have noticed it earlier," Nico said as he positioned his sword over the doors. "What are you doing?" Rachel asked. "Getting us out of here!" he said as he drove his sword into the metal.

There was a sound like a cat screaming as Nico forced his sword half way into the metal. The blade slowly started to turn the hard metal into dust. After a few minutes, there was a hole big enough to go through. But there was a problem. "Oh, that's just great!" Nico shouted in anger. "What?" "The door's gone but there's just a wall in front of it. What floor are we on?" Rachel looked at the monitor and replied, "313th floor." Sam suddenly stated, "I got it. We're right now between 313th floor and the 312th floor. That's why there's a wall in front of the entrance." Nico nodded. _These guys in green sure are smart for people who live in a place where they brainwash you._ "Now, what?" Rachel asked helplessly. "We go up."

Hades was thinking silently to himself. He had retreated to his room for some peace and quiet from the onslaught of insults thrown at him. He had been almost driven mad by the two goddesses obviously having the time of their lives. He sighed and asked himself, "Why can't those two ever learn to be quiet for once?" He was thinking of his wife, Maria De Angelo. _I'd give Persephone away any day now if it meant that I could see Maria one last time,_ he thought sadly. _Nico will not find joy in discovering the truth but he will have peace._

"All right, now give me a boost," ordered Nico to Sam. The son of Hypnos cupped his hands for Nico to step on. With a grunt, Sam heaved Nico up to the ceiling of the elevator. Nico stabbed his sword into the metal roof and shouted, "Get out of the way!" Everybody jumped into a corner, well away from the falling debris. After a few moments, the sword clattered back onto the ground and a large hole could be seen where it had just been. Sam again gave Nico a boost for him to climb on top of the roof. Once Nico was on top, Sam took a step back and jumped up grabbing a hold on the roof and pulled himself up. "Pass me the pole," Sam told Rachel. She took it and with a well aimed throw, she gave it to Sam. "Now just hold onto it while I pull you up." Rachel nodded and grasped the end of the pole. With a powerful up thrust of his arm, Sam pulled the Oracle out of the elevator and onto the roof. "There's the entrance to the 313th floor," Nico said as he pointed at a pair of metal doors above them, "and also our way out."

It had taken quite a lot of work and unusual amount of cursing before the three teenagers got out of the elevator shaft and into the 313th floor. All of them were dead tired and decided to rest a bit at a lounge built on the floor. Luckily there was no one there and there were plenty of snacks and drinks much to the enjoyment of Sam and Nico. They stormed the area eating and drinking as they went. However in contrast, Rachel only took a soda and sat on a couch to read the journal. She turned the first page and was surprised to find out that it was Bianca's diary. With renewed excitement, she began to read.

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't know where I came from or really who I was. I just remember my name was Bianca and that my brother's name was Nico. I got you at a gift shop in this hotel. Strangely enough, I don't need to pay, as long as I have a plastic rectangle called a 'credit card.' There are amazing things in this hotel. Pools, games, and movies. It's great fun. Nico has gone completely mad with the entertainment and seems to be flying around all over the place. I don't know the date yet but I'll make sure that I'll ask for it soon._

"Interesting," she told herself quietly as she turned to the next page.

_Dear Diary,_

_I asked for the date but the man I asked to just said, "You don't have to worry about the date. All you got to do is just have fun." I think it's a bit strange but I guess it doesn't really matter. Today Nico and I went bungee jumping. It was terrifying and amazing. Who would have thought that almost jumping to your death was so thrilling? Something's strange though, it seems like Nico is acting a bit weird. He only talks to me when he has to, giving me almost no thought. I feel hurt but I'm pretty sure that soon things will be back to normal._

Rachel turned to the next page, finding only two sentences on it.

_Things are terrible. Nico doesn't care about me at all._

The Oracle turned to the next one finding only one sentence.

_I hate Nico!_

Rachel thought silently as she turned to the next page, _Looks like Nico is being a naughty boy._

_Dear Diary,_

_It's okay now. Things are better. Nico and I had a talk and we are much better than before. Strangely, he said that he remembered me after seeing a peculiar boy. I wonder who he was._

Rachel frowned and thought for a moment and looked at Sam. _No, he couldn't have been here for that long,_ she thought silently.

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't feel like writing so I'm just going to put today in a few words. Fun, Fun, Fun. Okay, bye._

Rachel was starting to see a pattern in almost every guest in the hotel. They started out fine but after a while, they gradually became ignorant and in the end, they weren't who they were before. She turned to the next page.

_Dear Diary,_

_I hate writing. The only reason I'm writing is because I want to remember the great things I did today. I went skiing, swimming, skating, and simply had fun._

Rachel was getting a bit annoyed by the tone Bianca was currently writing with and started to skip through the pages similar to the excerpt she had just read. She finally found a page near the end of the diary that sounded like the first chapter.

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't know how to explain it but I feel free. I think it started after I met the boy Nico mentioned. He's a nice person but he holds a metal staff. I don't see why he needs it. The security keeps us quite safe. I asked him his name and found out that his name was 'Sam.'_

Reality shook Rachel like an earthquake. Sam had been there when Nico and Bianca were staying at the Lotus Casino. She got up, stuffed the journal back into the bag, and ran to the boys but came to a halt. The elevator was operational again but that didn't catch her attention. The elevator was stopping at every floor almost as if it was looking for someone. Quick as lightning, she grabbed Nico and Sam and pulled them behind a counter. They were about to protest until they saw they elevator. The doors opened and what was inside made Rachel moan inwardly. The manticore was back and he was out for blood!

**Should I hurry up and end their time in the Lotus Casino or should I continue it a bit. I would like to know your opinion. Review! ! **


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry I haven't written for so long. This will be the second last chapter in the Lotus Casino. Enjoy!**

Chapter 14

_Why doesn't this guy just give up?,_ Rachel asked herself. She could see Nico tighten his grip on his sword, ready to jump into action. Sam was also preparing to strike, putting both of his hands on his staff. Rachel wished that she had the electric gun but it was on the other side of the lounge. The Oracle wondered if there was a list of the most stubborn monsters in the world. If there was one, she would put his name smack down first. The manticore stepped into the floor and sniffed. Rachel clenched her fists so tight that she wondered if she had stopped the circulation to her hands. After sniffing for a few seconds, he took a step toward the counter where Nico, Rachel, and Sam were currently hiding behind. The manticore's footsteps became louder as it neared the three teenagers. Nico crouched to spring while Sam adjusted his stance so that he could swing.

The monster stopped only a few feet away. Rachel realized that she had stopped breathing. Fear temporarily denied her the ability to inhale and exhale. She heard her heart beating inside of her chest. Suddenly with a roar, the manticore charged the counter. "Move!" Nico ordered as he dove behind a table. Sam and Rachel both quickly followed. The terrible sound of a crash filled the area and then just silence. Nico took a peek from behind the table. A spike whizzed toward him, embedding itself inside the table. With a yelp, Nico put his head back behind the cover of the table. "Why can't that guy just simply die already?" Sam asked without knowing that the others were thinking the same thing.

"What do we do now? If we try to move, we'll be shot and if we stay here, then he'll get us for sure," stated Rachel. Neither of the boys responded. "Oh come on, we can take him," Rachel nagged. "Considering the fact that he's probably half-crazy with rage, I don't think so," Sam replied in a calm voice. "How can you be so sure?" He stared at Rachel like she had gone loony. "Let me guess, your dreams." Sam just sighed. "I'm getting pretty tired of this. From now on, if you ask me that question again and I don't answer, it means my dreams, okay?" Rachel nodded embarrassed. She thought, _This guy must have snoozed a lot to see so many things. I wonder if he ever has a dreamless sleep._ But she quickly considered it not an option. Demigods by themselves have more dreams than what's good for them and added to fact that Sam was a son of Hypnos, there was no chance of him getting a good night's sleep. _Is it just me, _she asked herself, _or do most demigods have miserable lives?_

The recipient was running back and forth giving out orders. "Take some men and find the manticore. This time, make sure he's put down permanently," he said to a guard. "Yes, sir," the guard replied and left. A man asked the recipient, "Sir, how'd the manticore get out of that cage?" With a sigh, the recipient stated, "Again, that is the wrong question. The right question is 'Who let the manticore get of that cage?' "Then who did, sir? "I do not know but we can't afford any more damage to this hotel." There was a moment of intensive thinking which ended when the recipient continued, "Tell all our men to retire from capturing the three children. They are more trouble than they're worth. Send a group to escort them out of this hotel and make sure they don't come back." The man next to him nodded and headed off toward the hallway. _These kids are more dangerous than I first suspected. If they stay here any longer, other monsters are bound to come here and everything in this hotel will be ruined. They will leave and never come back._

Spikes were sticking out of almost every piece of furniture. Seeing that the table, after a barrage of spikes, began to break, they had decided to move to a different cover. The result was terrible. All three of them were apart, giving the manticore the pleasure of picking them off one by one. "You surprise me, Son of Hades. I will remember you as a worthy opponent but that doesn't mean I'll let you live to hear me say it." The elevator, unknown to the monster, had gone to the lobby and was slowing down on the current floor they were in. "It's a shame that your friends couldn't have put up such a good fight as well. It would have made things a bit more interesting." "Then you'll be overjoyed to see what's behind you!" shouted Nico.

The manticore started to turn but was blasted with more than a dozen arcs of electricity. It roared in pain and shock but was silenced by another wave of voltage. Nico jumped on top of it and said, "Yup, I am a worthy opponent. But you forgot one thing. A worthy opponent can also win." With that said, he sunk his sword into the manticore's body. The sword sucked its essence and before long, there was nothing but a pile of dust. Nico swung his sword around pointing it toward the group of men. "Don't come any closer. I'm not afraid to do the same thing to you." One of them stepped forward and said calmly, "We're not here to capture you, we're here to escort you out of this hotel." Nico loosened his grip on his sword a bit but still held it with two hands, ready to strike.

"How can I trust you?" he asked warily. The man sighed and replied, "I swear on the River of Styx that what I said is true." Thunder boomed in the distance. After a moment of not seeing the man turn into a slug or die in an excruciatingly painful way, he lowered his weapon. "Why are you doing this?" Sam asked not knowing what the oath was. "Apparently, your presence here brings destruction and terror. I'm afraid you are going to have to leave." Nico thought silently as they entered the elevator, _Well, that isn't something you see staff members do every day. We must have really made a ruckus._

As the doors closed, Nico thought he saw the pile of dust move but judged it to be just a freak of his imagination. _There is no way that the manticore can be still alive, _Nico thought. _Or can it?, _a voice seemed to say in the behind him. He craned his neck to look behind him. He only saw one of the guards who raised an eyebrow suspiciously. He turned his head back to the normal position wondering who had spoken to him. It had seemed to resonate throughout his whole body causing goose bumps. _You will serve me, _said the voice. _Never, _he shot back silently. He thought he could hear a cackle off in the distance but it quickly faded.

A figurine in a black cloak walked down a Lotus Casino hallway, dragging a man in green behind him. More than a dozen of men in identical clothes lay behind him. None of them were moving and all their weapons were destroyed or broken. At the end of the hallway, a door with the words 'Power Generator' stood. It was obvious that the staff of the hotel did not want anyone to mess or even get near the room. Locks and a hand scan could be seen next to the door. The door itself was made of solid titanium steel and was a few feet thick. They had spared no cost in making the security up to date. The person stopped in front of the door and chuckled. "They think that a hand scan can stop a person like me. A bozo could find it out if he'd just think. But I'm no bozo. I didn't kill these guys for nothing." With that, he placed the man's hand on the scan. After a few moments of scanning, a beep sounded and the locks made a loud 'click' as they unlocked. "You can run, you can hide, but you can't escape me, Nico."

Nico began to relax. _Finally, something good shows up. Maybe things will be better throughout the trip._ The elevator screeched to a halt. _Note to self. Never suggest that something good will ever happen during a quest._ The men in green around them looked at each other confused. One of them took out a walkie-talkie and tried to connect to the nearest contact. Nico considered the idea of sticking his sword into the metal doors again. However, he discarded it after thinking that the guards might believe that he was putting up a fight if he drew his sword. _If I ever survive this mess, I'm going to stay out of elevators as much as possible. _The man with the walkie-talkie managed to connect to another guard and they began to discuss about what to do with the currentdilemma. Suddenly, a scream came from the walkie-talkie. "Help! We need backup! He's tearing us apart. We need he-!" The voice was cut off and only the static could be heard from the ear-piece. _Great! It just turned into a horror movie!_

The recipient was beyond confused. He was frazzled! "Where are all the groups we sent out to the top floors?" "They haven't checked in for an hour, sir," a man next to him replied. "What of the group escorting the three children out?" "They're stuck in the elevator!" The recipient couldn't hold back the order any longer. "Tell everyone to fall back to here and get some people to activate the emergency power. I want those three out of here as fast as possible." "That won't be necessary," said a voice behind him. All eyes turned toward the door. The man in black stood in front of the door. Behind him, the men guarding the door lay sprawled on the floor. "If you do exactly what I say, I won't hurt you." The recipient broke a cold sweat and nodded. "Tell your men to escort them back here and hand them over to me. Are we clear?" The recipient gulped. "Crystal clear, sir."

Rachel had become bored and had begun to read the journal again. She decided to hold back the questions she wanted to ask Sam concerning Nico and Bianca. Opening to the page where she had left off, she turned to the next entry.

_Dear Diary,_

_Things are going smooth. Nico and I are having great fun. They add new entertainments all the time. Sometimes I feel like I'm forgetting something but I'm not too sure. We haven't seen Sam for a while. I wonder where he went._

Rachel frowned. She remembered that Sam had tried to escape but he hadn't told her when. _Perhaps this journal will tell me._

_Dear Diary,_

_Nico and I met Sam today. He looked terrible. His hair, usually flat, had become straight as needles. Every move seemed to cause him pain. When we asked him what had happened, he just said that it was nothing. I'm a bit worried if the same thing happens to us somehow._

_That must have been when he got hit by the electric gun._ Rachel began to try to piece together the clues she had found so far. She felt so close to a big breakthrough but she couldn't place her finger on it. She flipped to the next page.

_Dear Diary,_

_I found something strange today. I didn't notice until now. A strange locket was tied around my neck. I tried to open it but it won't budge. It looks like it needs a key._

_Looks like she's having the same problems I'm having._ Rachel turned to the next page, realizing that the journal was almost at its end.

_Dear Diary,_

_I found the key but a lawyer came saying that we have to leave. We're not allowed to take anything with us. So I hid it inside this journal. I'm hoping that someday I can retrieve you. The clue to finding it is that it is found at the heart of the journal. Goodbye._

Rachel began to search everywhere in the journal for the key. _The heart of the journal must be the middle._ She started flip through the pages within the middle part of the diary but found nothing. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie one of the men held crackled to life. The guard had a brief chat with the caller before turning it off. "I'm sorry," the man said, "but I'm afraid that there's been a change of plans.

**Heads up! I'm starting a new story called the Outcast. If you want, take a look and let me know if it's better. Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi guys! I'm really sorry for not writing in the Heart of Death. So I'm going to make it longer than usual.**** Like I said before, this will be the last chapter in the Lotus Casino.**** Enjoy!**

Chapter 15

All the guards aimed their weapons at the group of teens. "What are you doing? You just said that you were going to escort us out. The man said with a smile, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience but like I said, there has been a change of plan. Now, please remain calm and do not try to escape because if you do, we will shoot." Nico groaned. _How many times do things have to go bad? _He, of course knew, a lot. Nico thought of the possibilities of escape. They exited the elevator and switched to a new one, this time going up. _I could stick my sword into the floor. But then that might kill all of us. Think, think, think! Wait, I've got it. _

"Hey, uh," started Nico to a guard. "Yes?" he asked confused. "Could we stop? I need to use the restroom." "Nope!" the guard replied and turned his head away from Nico. "Oh, come on, you want me to wet this carpet?" All of the men in green looked horrified. "This is an antique from the Renaissance and well over a million dollars!" shouted one of the guards. Another stated, "Take him to the restrooms, immediately!" Nico almost chocked with relief. _Maybe this will work out after all. _"And take two of our men to make sure he doesn't get any second ideas. _Why can't I ever listen to my own advice? _They stopped on a floor and three guards went with Nico to the restroom stalls. _All right, new plan. The question is, 'What is it.' _Nico went to one of the urinals and tried to take as long as he could without looking conspicuous.

_I could try taking out these guys but then they might shoot Rachel and Sam. Agh, why is everything against me? Come on, think! _He flushed and walked toward the exit at a snail's pace. His brain felt like it was being crushed from thinking too much. _Wait. _He spotted a water fountain nearby the elevator but that wasn't what he was interested in. _The water pipe. If I can slice it, maybe I can make a distraction so that Rachel and Sam can escape. _He exited the restroom and was circled by the guards as they returned to the elevator. The water pipe drew closer and closer until Nico was almost about jump with excitement. _It's now or never. _

He tripped the nearest man causing him to fall onto one of his companions and they both toppled to the floor. The last one tried to aim his gun at him but Nico quickly sliced through it and gave him a nice kick to groin. Before the men in the elevator could react, he sliced open the water pipe. Chaos filled the air as streams of water flew everywhere. Some hit the guards' faces while others splattered onto their clothes and the carpet was soaked. _Too bad for the carpet. I wonder if they have insurance. _Rachel and Sam reacted the second the guards around them were confused.

Sam slammed his staff into several guards giving an occasional kick. The Oracle snatched a gun from a stunned guard, and gave him a solid 'whack.' The guard dropped to the ground with his eyes rolling back. Nico had begun to slam guards with the hilt of his sword knocking them out one-by-one. Eventually, there was only the sound of moaning or cursing from the men on the floor. "Let's get out of here!" said Sam almost out of breath. Rachel was about to enter the elevator but was stopped by Nico interjection. "Stop, they can just deactivate the elevator!" "Then, what? Do we take the stairs?" Nico looked at the floor number, 516th. "No, that'll take forever." Sam asked desperately, "Then what do we do?"

Nico had no other choice but that didn't mean he liked it. "I'll have to shadow travel us out of here," replied Nico. Yet again, Sam looked hopelessly confused. "Huh, what's that?" The sound of footsteps from the staircases cut off Nico from replying. "I'll explain later. Just take my hand and hold on real tight." "Uh, okay." Sam took hold of Nico's hand with an iron grasp. _Maybe I shouldn't have said that. _Rachel took his other hand.Nico focused and began to open a portal. The footsteps became louder and some guards could be seen entering the floor.

"Hurry up!" urged Rachel. Finally, the portal was finished. _One person nearly ripped my arm off. What will happen if there's two? _He took a look behind him and saw men pouring into the room. _Too late! _He dove in with the others. To describe the pain he felt was practically impossible. If he could only use one word to describe it, he would have used 'torture.' His whole body felt like it was being pulled by two ends like a little child stretching a piece of gum. He wanted to scream but the overwhelming pain seemed to lock all of his muscles. He could see some light up ahead. Knowing that it was almost over, he willed himself to keep going. _Almost there, almost there. _They burst out of the portal and found themselves in a place all too familiar. _No, not China again! _With that thought in his mind, he passed out.

The recipient's walkie-talkie crackled to life and he quickly answered it. "Did you get them?" "No, sir. The boy made some kind of portal and escaped." The recipient gulped and glanced at the black figure next to him. "All right, then. Carry on with your duties." "Yes, sir." The walkie-talkie shut off and the recipient looked nervously at the stranger. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. But they escaped. I'm sure that we ca-." "Curse that son of Hades!" exclaimed the stranger. The recipient shook with fear, as did everyone else in the room." "I'll get him by myself and when I do, he'll be dead!"

Rachel again wondered where demigods got their dumb yet brilliant ideas. _And by meaning 'dumb,' I mean almost getting yourself killed. _She found the shadow-travel part fun and she didn't care about the darkness surrounding her. She had met worse things than the dark. Unfortunately for Sam, he didn't find it even a bit entertaining. He yelped and shouted during the whole trip. Rachel found herself next to Sam, who was looking a bit green, and again an unconscious Nico. _Oh, great! He's out again. He's gonna kill himself if he keeps it up. _

The Oracle looked around, surprised to see signs with strange symbols on them and a huge number of people milling around them. _Where are we? _She continued looking around before stopping at a sign over a bank. It had some English on it saying, 'Bank of China.' She had heard from Percy about how Nico sometimes made mistakes in shadow-traveling. _I guess this is one of them. _Sam had managed to hold his stomachdown and stood up a bit shakily. When he saw their surroundings, he yelped and asked, "Where in the world are we?" Rachel replied down-heartedly, "China."

"China!" exasperated Sam. "Why are we in China? More importantly, how'd we get here?" It took a while to explain the crazy skeleton incident and the shadow-traveling but when Rachel was finished, Sam appeared a bit more at ease. "Uh, one question." "What?" "Did he mean to bring us to China?" "Uh, I don't think so. He has some navigation problems now and then." "Then how come he's unconscious?" "Usually, Nico shadow-travels alone but he used it to take both of us into Las Vegas." "Was the outcome similar to this one?" Rachel nodded and said, "Right now, we have to get him somewhere safe." "Where could that be?"

The Oracle looked at the people passing by and the jumble of roads connecting to another. "I don't know. Wait, I think that's a hotel. Let's see if we can check in." "Are you nuts? We don't have any money!" Rachel showed her the Lotus Casino credit card. Sam's face instantly brightened up. "Oh yeah!" he said as he drew his. The hotel was relatively small compared to Las Vegas' towering casinos but it was clean. It took a while but with a lot of pointing and a swish of a credit card, they managed to get a room with three beds and in Rachel's opinion, that was all they needed. She jumped into one of the beds burying her face into one of the pillows. In thirty seconds flat, she was asleep.

Sam sat down on a chair with a Coke in his hands. _Yikes, when I planned on escaping with these two, I didn't know how many things can go wrong! _He took a sip from his soda and looked at Nico sprawled on one of the beds. Not being able to look closely at him because of all the action, he studied him now. _Black hair, tannish skin, seems to be always serious. Hmm, kind of reminds me of-. _Sam jolted for a moment before leaning forward and studying Nico's face. _No, it can't be. But if he is, where's her sister? Stop it! How do you know it's really that small boy at the hotel? It could be anyone._ His thoughts clashed as he sat on the chair.

Eventually, wariness overpowered him. He put his staff next to his bed, in case of an attack, and lay on top of his bed. He almost instantly fell into a deep sleep. A dream found him. He was in a world of light and he had to squint his eyes to make out a shape coming toward him. "Who's there?" he shouted. His echo resonated making his eardrum vibrate. "Just your father," replied Hypnos coming into view. "Why'd you come?" Hypnos shuffled his feet and yawned. Sam couldn't help but follow. He shook his face and frowned. "Stop that! I really hate it when you try to buy time with that." The god of sleep slouched. "All right! I just came here to tell you the next clue to Nico's quest." "Who told you?" "Hades, the guy who threatened to put worms in my bed if I didn't tell you."

"You call that a bad thing?" "Very." "You ,gods, have lives of luxury compared to us!" "I know! Isn't it wonderful? We get King sized beds of the finest quality. It makes me want to sleep just by thinking about it." Hypnos yawned again and Sam followed against his will. "Stop that! Okay, what's the next clue?" "It's with one of Nico's relatives." "Who's that?" "His uncle, one of the few De Angelos left." "Where is he?" "Why, right here in Hong Kong." "Hades had ordered me to take you here but since you came by yourselves, I can go back to sleep!" "Wait!" shouted Sam before Hypnos could teleport away. "Oh, come on, I want to sleep," he complained. "Tell us exactly where he is!" "The store right across the street. Okay, bye." Hypnos disappeared and Sam woke up. _I hate the fact that he loves sleeping. _He looked across the street. An old medium-sized store lay across the hotel. _Gotya! _

Nico felt something all too familiar when he woke up, pain! "Uhh!" he groaned. "Wake up, Sleeping Zombie!" shouted Sam. Nico opened his eyes. Sam was putting on his shoes while Rachel was looking through a notebook. He sat up feeling his body throbbing with stinging pain. He groaned again. "Well, Mr. Groaner, I found out where the next clue is." "Huh, you did?" Rachel asked surprised. "How?" Sam didn't reply. "Your dreams?" "Didn't I tell you that if I didn't reply, that it meant my dreams?" "Sorry." Nico looked confused. "Uh, what?" Sam let out a silly grin. "Nothing, just make sure you don't kill yourself, Corpse Breath."

Nico had begun to get annoyed by Sam's so called 'jokes.' But eventually, he learned to ignore them but that didn't mean he got steam-bunned sometimes. After a Chinese-cuisine breakfast and a good rest, they crossed the street. "So, this guy's my uncle?" asked Nico. "Yup," Sam replied, "one of the few De Angelos that are still alive." A spark of hope kindled in Nico's heart. _Maybe I'm not as alone as I thought. But what happened to the others? Did something happen to them? _Nico pushed the grave concept away. "So this is where he lives?" he asked. "Uh huh, it ain't much to look at." Nico and Rachel both agreed silently. The doors were rusty and slightly ajar while the windows had holes in them. "Yeesh, does messiness come with the family?" Sam joked. Nico glared at the son of Hypnos before knocking on the door.

No one came to answer it. Nico tried again only this time a bit louder. Still no one came to open it. He tried to open the door but found it locked shut. Pushing and grunting, he and Sam tried to get the doors open. Yet again to no avail. "Great, now what?" Sam asked mostly to himself. "Do we just wait for the person who lives here to show up and magically open the door for us?" "Yes, you could have," a voice came next to them. An old man lay on a rocking chair with a pipe in his hands. Rachel couldn't help but notice that they looked so similar. Nico's uncle had been sitting right next to them as they had what seemed to be, break into his house. Each of them tried to make an excuse. "Uh, we we're looking for firewood and-," started Nico but was interrupted by Sam who said, "Our mother said that we had to get some bread so we, uh, came here to buy some, uh, we-." Likewise, Rachel interrupted him and stated, "We had a ball but it got into your shop through one of your windows and-." This jumble of excuses continued with the old man watching silently on.

Soon the three teens ran out of ideas and could only wait. The man stretched and took a suck from his pipe. "If you're trying to act like a local around here, stop it. Anyone can see by the likes of you, that you aren't from around these parts," he said in an Italian accent. "And if you were, you would have known that only an idiot would come to my shop. You would have also been speaking Chinese to me." He looked like he was about to say more but Nico cut in. "I'm Nico De Angelo, your nephew! My mom was your sister. I-." The man had reacted with amazing speed considering his age. His hand clamped over Nico's struggling mouth. "Quiet," he hissed, "don't let him hear you. Quick, get in!"

He pulled them into the shop and locked the doors. He pushed an old table against the door and turned to look at a bewildered Nico. "Are you really Nico?" he demanded. The younger Di Angelo just nodded. "Where's your sister?" Wrenching pain filled his heart, causing immediate tears in his eyes. "Answer me!" "She's dead! She died on a quest!" This time the tears came rolling down his cheeks. Neither Sam nor Rachel said anything. The old man staggered and put his hand on a wobbly stool to steady himself. He raised his hand which Nico perceived, to strike him. But instead, he wiped his eyes as tears rolled down his wrinkled face.

"How did she die?" he asked sorrowfully. Nico told his story from the time they were at the weird military school up to now. His uncle listened to Nico's tale without ever asking a question. Sam had no doubts now that Nico was the little boy he had seen back at the Lotus Casino with his sister. _His sister died when he was only ten. No wonder he's always sad. _Rachel had never heard the whole story until now. She was yet again surprised at the danger Nico had already gone through. _He has had more adventures than what's good for him. _After ten minutes, Nico had finished speaking waiting from a response from his uncle. The man asked, "What are you doing out here?" "We're on a quest," Nico simply replied. "For what?" "My past." "Very well, I'll tell you what I know." Nico's face brightened. "Your mother and I weren't always the best brother and sister but we still loved each other. When she married to Hades, I was angry because I thought a man, who turned out to be a terrible person, would have been a better husband. I felt guilty afterwards and visited your mother when you and Bianca were born."

Nico's uncle took a deep breath and continued, "When we met, she forgave me but she made me promise to take care of you two but that terrible man who I thought would have made a better husband, tried to kill her for not marrying him. I distracted him while your mother fled with you two. Later I found out that she was dead and that you and Bianca were missing. I searched for ten years for you but eventually I gave up. I stayed here, in Hong Kong, after searching for you." "Why Hong Kong?" Sam asked. "Because I got a call from my brother, he said that he needed help." "What happened to him?" Nico asked. "When I searched for him in his house, I found him almost dead. When I asked him what had happened, he just replied, "He's out there. He wants revenge," and then died. "And I plan to do so!" shouted someone outside the store and the door busted open knocking the chair across the room.

A black-clothed figure walked in. "You, how did you find this place?" "Nothing can hide from my revenge!" the black figure shouted. "Nico, run! Take this locket," he said as he tossed it to Nico. Rachel realized that the lockets, Nico's and hers, were almost identical. "One key unlocks both of them," shouted Nico's uncle, "Now run! There's a back door, hurry!" The three of them rushed to the back and nearly knocked the door off its hinges as they pushed through. Nico's uncle turned to look at the black clothed man. "I broke my promise once but I'll make sure I keep it this time even if it kills me." "Your wish is my command," the stranger replied with a grin.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi guys! I would like to thank ****seas secret keeper6**** for the review. It boosted me to hurry up and make the next chapter so here it is. This one will be**** a bit**** action-packed. **

Chapter 16

Nico, Rachel, and Sam were running as fast as their feet could take them. Nico felt the locket in his hand as cold as ice. _A clue! Finally, all the danger and crazy ideas paid off. But what did he mean that one key would open both of the lockets?_ _And what will happen to my uncle? _There were just too many things that could go wrong. The streets intersected so many times that Nico wondered what it would look like from above in an airplane. _Probably like a checker board. _"Where do we go?" Sam asked and shouted at the same time. Nico screeched to a halt and looked around. "We need to find a place to hide!" he flung back quickly. "Hey, what about those?" Rachel suggested as she pointed at some barrels near the docks.

_Perfect! _"Jump into them, hurry!" Nico commanded. Sam grabbed the top of a barrel and ripped it off. With a jump, the son of Hypnos, was in the barrel and closed it with the top in his hand. Nico helped Rachel getting into a barrel. She stopped all of a sudden. "What?" demanded Nico. "There's water in here!" "Oh come on, what's a little water?" "There's dead fish in here!" _Okay, new barrel, _Nico thought. The sound of running feet could be heard. He ripped open another barrel and glanced to see if there was any bad content. After making sure there was no obvious inconvenience in the barrel, he dragged Rachel toward it and dropped her in. "Ow, hey! I could have gotten in by myself!" "There's no time!" he responded and slapped the top back on.

Nico saw a shadow heading toward him. The only barrel open was the one with the dead fish inside. _Oh, great! Why do I always get the worst? _He dove in. Keeping himself as quiet as possible, he hoped the barrel wouldn't look too conspicuous with the top off. A fish twitched next to his arm. _Maybe they aren't dead. _Soon all the fishes were flopping and twitching. The barrel started to shake from the movement and the footsteps started to slow down. _Please don't notice. Please don't notice. _Nico begged. The sound of it stopped but then continued slowly toward the barrel Nico was in. He gripped his sword ready for obvious discovery. The person was now only a few feet from him. A fish flopped onto his stomach. Suddenly, a bright idea popped in his mind. He grabbed the fish ignoring the pain of the sharp scales on his hands. The fish flapped back and forth trying to escape Nico's grasp. _Hold still! _He flung the fish gently out of the barrel.

Nico held his breath waiting for the reaction he wanted. He could hear the flops of the fish on the ground next to him. _Take it. Take it. _The person remained still but then quickly ran down a street. _Man, I'm gonna die running. _He got out of the barrel soaked. _Gross, I smell like garbage. _The odor he let out was so disgusting that Nico had to force himself not to gag. He quickly tried to squeeze all the water out of his clothes but then realized that something wasn't right. Then he saw that the barrels Rachel and Sam had been in were gone! "Well, well, look what I find. A good sized catch," a voice stated. Nico unsheathed his sword and aimed it at the voice. The man in black clothes grinned. "Huh, how cute? Putting up a fight? Let's hope you do better than your pathetic uncle!"

Rachel hadn't meant to tip over the barrel and roll off but she couldn't help it. The uncomfortable position Nico had put her in was more than cramping. It was torture. The rolling had caused her to become dizzy so that she couldn't tell what direction she had rolled. She thought about the possibility of her barrel knocking into Sam's. She put the idea away. _First, I have got to get out of here! _The Oracle began to kick at beneath hoping that the top would come off. It didn't even budge. She then tried to beat the lid above her. After bruising her knuckles a few times, she managed to slam a bit of the lid off. She looked out of it but could only see blue. _Blue, that's weird. _She pushed and pulled until the lid finally peeled off. Rachel stood up properly and noticed that she was on a dock. _Where am I? _She jumped out and headed toward the city hoping that she could find the others if she looked long enough.

Sam woke up finding himself in a garbage container. "Yuck!" he shouted and jumped out. He took a whiff of himself and nearly threw up. _How'd I get here? Where are Nico and Rachel?" _He looked into the trash can and found the remains of his barrel. _I better find them before we meet any more trouble. _He took off a slimy piece of meat on his shirt and threw it back into the trash. _Yuck, that's just nasty._ He looked around him but that just made him feel even more lost. _Wait, I remember we were near some docks. _Sam tried to catch the scent of the salty air of the ocean. He failed to pick up anything except the smell of the garbage. Right when he was about to give up, he heard a loud horn. Sam had heard the same sound many times on TV. It was the sound of a boat! He was about to run toward the source of it but then remembered about his staff. He held his nose as he looked inside the gross container. His pole was at the end. _Oh great!_

"What did you do to my uncle?" Nico demanded. "Oh, don't worry. He's dead as dirt. I plan to do the same thing to you." "What did I do that made you hate me so much?" "It was because your mother married that maggot-face, not me!" Nico remembered his uncle saying that the man, who he had thought would have made a better husband, was terrible. _This must be him. _"She's dead. Isn't that enough?" "No, not until I kill every last De Angelo alive!" "If you think that I'm just going to wait while you kill me, then you're wrong." "I'm not. I have every intention of letting you defend yourself. After all, it's fun because I always win." The man opened his hands and an axe started to form. _What? He's not a mortal? _"Ha, you really thought that I was normal? I am a demigod as well, a son of Ares." The fact that Ares and his offspring weren't very bright popped out in Nico's mind. He'd totally understand why his mother wouldn't marry this guy. "Now, it's time for you to pay!" the man shouted as his axe fully materialized.

A knife flew straight at the black clothed man. With a grunt, he dropped to the ground cradling his arm where the knife had stabbed him. Nico spun to where it had come from. His uncle with one arm on a bandaged chest was taking another knife to throw from a pocket in his pants. "You're alive," Nico said smiling. His uncle let out a pained grin. "For now." "You," started the man on the ground. "You'll pay for this." Nico's uncle quickly pulledNico toward a back alley. "Are you all right?" he asked noticing the bandages turning red. "I'm-, I'm fine," his uncle replied a bit shakily. "We've got to get you to a hospital." "No, we have to find your friends get you three out of here." The son of Hades had a heated argument with his uncle. Apparently, they were as stubborn as the other. Finally, after a few minutes, Nico won. The pain probably forced his uncle to make the right choice. "Fine, but I'm only staying there for only a bit," he stated determinedly. _I don't think that's going to happen. _Nico started to help his uncle to slowly walk when Rachel ran right into them.

"Rachel, where'd you come from?" Nico said with his mouth open. "Over there, but that's not important. I saw the manticore again." "What? Stop joking!" "I'm not. I saw him with my own eyes. Nico's uncle stated, "There's no choice. I need to get you kids out of here." The Oracle then realized the wound the man had. "No, sir, you are going to a hospital." "Ugh, is that what all you guys suggest to me?" Nico's uncle complained. Smiling silently, Nico picked supported his uncle so that he could steady himself. "By the way," the man asked, "why do you smell like the fish market on a hot summer day?" "No kidding!" Rachel agreed waving the air with her hand. Nico frowned. "Let's just say that I had to use the barrel with the fish." Rachel put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh while his uncle looked on confusingly. A shout came from above and a person dropped into one of the stalls on the sidewalk. It was Sam.

"Sam, are you all right?" asked Rachel. The son of Hypnos pulled himself out without taking too much notice about the angry insults thrown from the owner of the stall. "We've got to go! I was being chased by the manticore! He's alive!" "That's impossible! He couldn't have been reborn that fast." "It doesn't matter! We just have to hide!" "Here," Nico's uncle said weakly, "take this." He handed them huge bundles of Chinese money. "Where did you-." "Don't ask. I was a rich man and I still am. Take it. You need it more than I do." Before anyone could protest, he limped toward the side of a big road and hailed a taxi. "Get in!" he commanded. Sam jumped into the backseat and Rachel followed. Nico had tears in his eyes as he looked at his uncle. "There, there, no need to cry. Go and become a true hero. Find your past and enjoy knowing the truth." Nico nodded and entered the cab. His uncle talked with the driver and Rachel, Nico, and Sam was soon off toward the airport.

David De Angelo watched his nephew and his friends' taxi as it rode out of sight. "You really think that he'll find his past?" the man in black said behind him. "I knew you were there." "Then why didn't you attack me?" "I could ask you the same thing." The man in black grunted and replied, "I have some other plans for him but for now, I'm just going to kill you." David turned to face his opponent. "You must learn to let go of grudges. Helio, we were once best friends. Why can't we make peace?" "Don't ever talk to me about peace! I'll kill you, that stupid kid, and all your relatives! I'm going to wipe out every single De Angelo on earth." "You are not alone, are you?" "You judge correctly. Gaea will help me get what I want." "What, does this make you feel any better? You have already killed a dozen members of my family." "Stop your pestering. You and everyone with your blood shall feel my wrath!"

Nico, Sam, and Rachel were inside the airport. Buying the tickets was no problem because of two reasons. One, was because all the attendants there spoke English and two, they had the money. They had chosen the closest flight which was bound for Australia. _Huh, who would have thought we would end up in Hong Kong International Airport?" _He reclined on a chair in between his two friends. Sleep overtook his body. A nightmare followed.

**Okay, I know what you're asking. What was the night mare? Sorry, but you'll have to wait. Please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi everyone!**** I'm super sorry that I haven't written for so long.**** Again I would like to thank seas secret keeper6 for reviewing. Now it's time to get back to the story! I hope you like it!**

Chapter 17

Sam felt like a rock that didn't want to move. In other words, he was sitting on a chair waiting for the plane's gate to open and he was dead tired. _Actually, I think that description is for Nico, _the son of Hypnos said sleepily. The Mist made his staff look like a crutch while it made Nico's sword look like a purse with a long strap. _Looks like I got the lucky one. _Many boys had snickered at Nico but Thomas knew that the assumed 'purse' could easily wipe them out of existence. Rachel lay slumped on a chair in front of him gently taking in and out breaths. _Better catch some winks before I pass out. _He yawned and fell into a deep snooze. As usual, a dream came upon him.

Hypnos rubbing his eyes and stretching said to Sam, "Getting waken up two days in a row! This is the worst!" _Those gods have it all easy. _"Why'd you come this time?" "Um, well actually I was hoping I could sleep without telling you anything." A thunder boomed in the far distance. Hypnos' face filled with fear and hastily said, "Okay, okay, I'll tell him!" He turned to Sam. "In Australia, you won't be safe either. The manticore is alive and Helio is after you." "How can the manticore be alive? And who's Helio?" "Gaea has risen up that terrible monsters and she is supporting Helio, the man who tried to kill Nico and his uncle earlier." "Why does that guy want him dead?" "Most of Nio's family comes from a long line of people who had close dealings with Hades. Probably one of the reasons Hades married Nico and Bianca's mother." "Wait, what happened to Bianca?"

Before he could reply, a boom yet again sounded in the distance. "All right, I won't tell him! The main reason that I came here is because I have to tell you the area of the next clue." "Okay, so what is it?" "It is within Sydney where music sings but its source stays still." "Wouldn't it be better for you to just tell us the exact location?" "Why, yes! That would save me from waking up so many times to tell about you things. It's at-." A boom bigger than the ones before ripped through the dream. "I got it! I got it! No easy answer! Huh, sometimes I wish that I could threaten someone with zombies." Thomas looked awkwardly at his father. "Hurry up and wake up. Your plane is boarding in a few minutes. Oh, and your friend is having a huge nightmare. It makes me sweat just thinking about it. Better wake him." "Wait, what?" Sam desperately asked. Hypnos faded away and his son woke up back in reality.

The eyes of Sam bolted open and he jumped up. Without thinking straight, he shook Rachel furiously. "Uh, what is it? I was just dreaming that I was a soft bed!" "What the-. You weren't having a nightmare?" "Huh, of course not. In fact, I was having the dream of my life. Why do you ask?" "Because I just had a dream that said a friend of mine was ha-." He flashed his head toward Nico. The boy had his eyes closed but his whole body was jolting and fidgeting. _Oh no! _"We've got to wake him! Help me!" Sam shouted. Rachel ran to Nico and tried to shake him awake but a strong push from one of his flailing arms sent her tumbling back. Sam pinched Nico's skin but the boy showed nothing expressing pain. _There's only one thing to do, _he thought as he grabbed his pole.

Nico was in the dark. Not the dark you sleep in, not the dark during a summer night sky, it was the dark that made you want to climb under your covers and hide. _What's going on? _He felt for his sword but found out that it was gone. A cackle resounded around him. "Who's there?" "Why just me, Gaea!" a voice from no particular direction replied before cackling again. Fear drew into his heart. He had heard about the rising danger about Gaea waking up but he never thought he would meet her in person. "Now, to have a little fun." Red hot fire burned through his body and he couldn't breathe. "You will die with immense pain one way or another. Helio will find you and if he doesn't, the manticore will. Both will ensure you a sluggish death as well as your friend, Sam." More cruel laughter filled the air. _Help! _A sharp pain in his head jolted him awake from torture.

The first words, if you could call them words, were, "Yoweeee!" "Finally, you're awake! You looked like someone was strangling you. _It felt exactly like that! _Nico coughed and sputtered taking in ragged short breaths. "Dude, we have to get on the plane now. Here put your arm around me and I'll help you onto it." Sam could still hear his father's clue to finding, well, the next clue. _It is near Sydney where music sings but its source stays still. _He looked at the city the plane would fly to. It was Sydney, Australia. _Perfect, although, it is odd that the fastest plane out of here goes to the place we need to go. _He had a vague feeling that a god's doing was in the work but he decided not to worry about it. _Whoever's helping us get out of here is a friend to me. _Helping Nico, they boarded the plane.

David De Angelo knew that he was dying but he would do all he could so that his nephew could get as far away as possible from the crazy man in front of him. "You're weak like all the others I've fought. Hopefully your nephew will prove a better banter." "You will destroy yourself if you continue." "Hah, don't you think I know that? The Oracle predicted that I would die if I seek revenge so that's why I'm going to kill that girl with him as well." "Stop this madness! Helio, forgive and forget. This is what helps life go on. But to hold on to anger does exactly the opposite." "Silence, I know what I am doing. But Gaea has promised me that if I die trying to kill that brat, she will raise me up again." "How far you have fallen, Helio. Gaea will not help you. She is manipulating you. She never helps but uses people to her bidding and eventually throws them out as trash." "I have made my choice and you won't have to worry about your nephew anymore." A spike flew and pierced David De Angelo's heart. "You will pay!" were the last words of him.

A pain in his heart began to cause Nico to squirm in his seat and breathe unevenly. _What's this pain I feel? _"Attention all passengers," a static filled voice said, "We will be taking off soon. Please turn off all electronics devices while we begin to take off. Thank you for your cooperation." The voice turned off but Nico still felt the pain inside his chest. _It's probably nothing, _he tried to reassure himself. However, deep down inside he knew that something terrible had happened. _Is my uncle dead? _The horrible question made him feel like throwing up and cry at the same time. Using all his will power, he tried to think of something else. The dream flashed back to him and the fear he had felt before doubled. _I've got to get Sam out of this mess._

Rachel was sitting on a chair next to him still feeling a bit weird from suddenly waking up but soon she adapted to the chair and slept comfortably more or less. The sleep she fell into was a dreamless one which she was incredibly thankful for. _I guess you don't know how lucky you are until you see the suffering of others. _The beautiful respite she felt washed away most of her exhaustion but as quickly as she slept, she woke up. Although it was hard to believe, the flight was almost at its destination and the captain's voice, she later realized, was the reason for her abrupt awakening. She looked at Sam next to her who was quietly sleeping. _Lucky him. _Then she turned her eyes toward Nico and was shocked to see his face wrenched in pain.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" she asked worriedly. The dream had considerably shaken him up but the look he had looked like someone was punching him inside. Nico swallowed and licked his lips before saying, "No, it's nothing." "Are you joking? It looks like you're going to throw up." "Seriously, it's nothing. It's just.." "What?" Nico sighed. "I think-. I think my uncle is dead." "How can you be so sure?" "I don't know so I guess it's just a stupid idea." Rachel could only imagine the heart breaking feelings Nico would feel if his assumption was true. "Well, I sure hope it's not true." The son of Hades thought for a moment and asked, "What did he mean that the key would open both lockets? I only got one." "Uh," the Oracle said embarrassingly, "I found a locket back at the Lotus Casino and also your sister's diary." "You did? Can I see it?"

Rachel got it out of her bag and gave it to Nico. He flipped through the pages as if he was afraid of even ripping it a bit. "This, this is amazing. Finally, something turns up but what about the locket?" "It's right here," she said as she revealed the locket from her pocket. "Where's the key?" "I don't know. The last page says that it's in the heart of the diary." Nico considered the clue before flipping the diary on its front. "What are you do-." Rachel stopped as she saw a small heart sticker on the back. Nico ripped it off and a small key fell out. "So that's what it meant." Without delay, Nico grabbed the two lockets and opened the one Rachel had. Inside the locket, was a picture of a beautiful woman who looked so similarly to Nico. "Is that your mother?" "Yeah." A sad yet smiling Nico set it down on his lap and opened the second one. Although the picture of the person inside looked much younger, both automatically recognized Nico's uncle.

When he saw the photo, the pain he felt before came back twofold. He had no doubts now. This pain he felt was because of the man in the photo's death. "He's dead," he said miserably. "Wait, how can you be so sure?" "I can feel his death now. Before, I wanted to think he managed to survive but now it's clear. He is now in the Underworld." "Nico, I'm so sorry." The pale boy felt himself falling into a world of pain. _So many deaths. Why does this have to happen? _He looked at Sam resting near him. _I can't let that happen to him too. _

The plane landed in Australia, Sydney and the first thought that came to Sam was the clue his father had given him. _It is __within__ Sydney where music sings but its source stays still.__ Where could that be? _"Hey guys, I got the next clue from my dad in a dream." Nico and Rachel looked curiously at Sam. "What'd he tell you?" asked Nico. "It is within Sydney where music sings but its source stays still." "Huh, that sounds familiar," Rachel stated thoughtfully. "Wait, the Sydney Opera House!" shouted Nico. "You're right! Let's go before we get killed!" shouted Sam.

**Well, that was shorter than usual so sorry! Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**What's up everybody? I would like to thank seas ****secret keeper6**** for the review. I would also like to thank ****coralie14**** for notifying me about my mistake. Don't worry I fixed the mistake. :) Please enjoy the next chapter.**

Chapter 18

Finding out the answer to the riddle was easy. The hard part was finding it. Rachel, Nico, and Sam had asked many people including a biker, a shop owner, a small boy, two police officers, and finally a family who was going to the beach, where the Sydney Opera House was. They soon found out that it would have been easier if they just bought a map. Nico smiled as he thought, _It's a good thing I changed all of that Chinese money into Australian money. _He had remembered the look on the money exchange lady's face when he dumped a mountain of money right in front of her. _She acted like we were royalty though I didn't mind. First time I actually felt very rich. _"It's right here," Sam said pointing at a location not far from their current location. "Then let's run. I have bad feeling that we're going to meet trouble soon."

After a few awkward and confusing turns, they got a glimpse of the building and headed toward it. "I told you we had to take a right!" Rachel said annoyingly. "Hey, don't blame me! I was holding it upside down," responded Sam. "Yeah, and caused us to waste ten minutes." "Hey! You made that wrong turn that led us into right into a brawl between the two dogs." "That was because I wasn't concentrating from your so called 'advice' on getting around." Both shot deadly looks at each other. During this whole time, Nico hadn't even noticed a thing they were saying. After a few more minutes of arguing, both suddenly realized the strange silence from Nico. "What's wrong?" Sam asked. Rachel added, "Yeah, you haven't been acting right." "Oh, me," Nico said surprised. His eyes dashed back and forth as he thought of an excuse.

"No more excuses!" nearly shouted the Oracle with authority. Nico stopped walking as well as the others. "Sam, you have to go." The son of Hypnos laughed hysterically. "You won't give up easy will you?" "I'm serious! If you continue.." "What? What'll happen?" "You will, you will." "Spit it out already! What will happen to me?" A roar ripped through the air. Most of the people around them considered it to be just the crash of the waves at the beach but of course, it wasn't. "How'd he even get here?" Nico asked out loud. "There's used to be a whole ocean between us and him! The even better question is, 'How is he back so quickly?'" "I don't think that's the best thing to think about. We need to get out of here and fast!" Rachel stated. "Right," Nico agreed. "We just have to get to the Sydney Oprah House, get the key, and get out of here. "Uh, guys," Sam said shakily as looked at a building. "What?" the other two asked. "The manticore's right there!"

Nico and Rachel spun toward the direction Sam was looking at and then turned on their heels and ran. "Can't we ever get a break? I mean, is it too much to ask Tartarus for a vacation?" "Apparently, yes! Now stop yakking and run!" commanded Nico. "No problem." "I thought I told you to stop talking." "No, you told me to stop yakking!" "You two!" shouted Rachel, "get a grip! You think that this is the time to fight." Nico gave her a look and responded, "Look who's talking! You and Sam were blabbering about who was wrong about the map." Sam took a glance behind them and slowed down. "Are you crazy?" Nico exclaimed. "No, something's not right." The Oracle and the son of Hades slowed down too. "It's gone." They looked to their rear and realized Sam's statement was true. "Hmm, I guess than we should get back to-." An identical roar from before, beat against their ears as a shape reappeared only a hundred feet from them. "It is not gone! Run!"

Hades had begun to listen to classical music. As strange as it seemed, he enjoyed it. It reminded him of his dead wife, Maria De Angelo. _It's better than hearing those hags beat me with their insults. Why did I ever give them the idea of arguing about me? _Hades was not a happy person. The woman he loved was dead and one of his sons was being chased by a berserk monster! _It's ironic. We have all this power and we can't even use it for others. Well, we could but then we'd have to meet the misfortune of breaking the oath. Sometimes I wonder how these things happen. _A chain of laughter came from the room next to the one he was in. _Good for nothing witches! _He turned up the volume on his I-Phone 4 and relaxed as the music drowned out into his ears.

"You know what? I'm starting to think that you're a magnet for monsters," Sam said a-matter-of-factly. "Oh, so now you get it!" Nico replied. "Well, you can drop out any time you like." "Seriously, I'm not going to quit." "Yes, you are!" "No, I'm not!" "Yes, you are!" "Nu-uh!" "Yuh-huh!" "Agh!" Rachel almost screamed. "What is wrong with us? Why are we fighting so much? If we're going to fight, then we might as well fight that cursed manticore." A spike flew over them. _Not again, _Nico thought crazily. _No more spikes sticking into my body. Please! Please! Please! _Unfortunately, the begging to particularly no one wasn't very helpful. Sam tripped over a nick on the ground and landed heavily on the streets. "Ohhh man!" he groaned as he tried to pick himself up. "Help me get him up!" Rachel ordered Nico.

They managed to get Sam up but then a spike stuck itself only a few inches from Nico's foot. He yelped and shouted, "We have got to hide!" "Oh yeah, three barrels are just gonna appear out of nowhere so that we could hide in them," Sam said sarcastically before taking in a sharp breath from the pain on his chest. "Uh, would you believe me if I told you that what you just said was real?" Rachel asked. Sam and Nico looked at an alley where three perfect sized barrels stood. "Um, maybe," Nico said. They rushed toward the barrels at a pace so that the walking wouldn't increase Sam's pain. _This is bad. If he doesn't leave…. _Nico's thoughts were interrupted by a spike clanging off his sheath on his belt. _Never mind for now. If we all die, then I won't have to warn him. _

Helio stood over the still body of his former friend. "None of this would have happened if your sister chose me to be her husband." He spat at the body on the ground and headed toward the hotel he was staying in. Gaea had already informed him of the current location of Nico. _Run, run, my prey. I'd love to finally see a person who can actually elude me. It will make the game much more interesting. _Unknown to him, a circle of light surrounded the body of Nico's uncle and after a few seconds, it was gone. Helio stopped at the shop David De Angelo had worked in. The door hanged on its hinges while the interior was trashed. Thieves had busied themselves with taking anything worth something. _Ha! The real treasure lies hidden. _The murder of many De Angelos walked toward the wall. A crooked nail was stuck on into the plaster. Helio slowly pulled it out and the noise of a spring releasing was followed by a compartment near him suddenly opening. _I may have sworn to kill all of them but that doesn't mean that I can't take their fortune._

Nico lay squished in a barrel filled with water. _Whoever magically got these barrels for us could have at least made the one I'm in dry! _Fortunately, there were no fish but there were bits of trash here and there. The stench clogged up his nose and he repeatedly mentally slapped himself to not vomit. _Man, if I ever make it out of this stink-hole, then I'm going to make sure that the first thing I do is take a shower. _He instantly quieted down when he heard the manticore go racing by. _When will this ever end? We might be able to take him on if we weren't so tired. _His barrel had no top which made Nico further annoyed because Rachel's and Sam's barrels had tops. _Looks like I get the worst luck. What kind of person puts two barrels with tops with another that didn't? _

Nico imagined an immortal going through a supermarket looking for a good deal for barrels so that he or she could save those poor kids running all over the world. A sign says in blaring letters, 'Get two with a top and one with none.' Perhaps the immortal thought it had a nice ring to it and bought the combo because it was fifty percent off. The son of Hades' imagination quickly got cut off when he realized that it was deathly silent. _Is it gone? _Ever so cautiously, he took a peek. He almost had a heart attack when he saw the manticore's back right in front of him! But that wasn't the bad news. The bad news was that in the monster's hand was one of the lockets. _It must have fallen out of my pants! What to do? What to do? _The manticore sniffed it before doing something that it would regret. It crushed the precious piece of Nico's past and threw it on the ground before stomping on it. Rage roared through Nico's ears as he jumped out of the barrel with a whooping battle cry and landed on the manticore's back.

**Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. Why did I make it so short? Sorry, but lately I've been kind of busy with homework and all that stuff you guys experience. Another cliffhanger, ha ha! I'm being too cruel. I'm wondering if I should bring in new characters. I want to see what everybody wants so I'll have a vote. Should I put in:**

**Percy**

**Annabeth**

**Thalia**

**Stoll Brothers**

**Grover**

**Clarrise**

**If you don't like any of these, then you can put in your own choice. Thanks and please review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi everyone! Thanks for your votes! Special drum****-****roll and confetti for …. seas secret keeper6 … and Silvershine Moonlight! You guys are great! The Stoll brothers, hmm, I'll make sure that their appearance in this story will be a good one! Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 19

Rachel was relieved to have found a place to hide from the disgusting manticore. Of course, the reassuring thoughts quickly canceled out when it stopped a few inches away from her. _I'm going to make sure __to steer clear from anymore quests when we get back to Camp Half Blood. _A taunting whisper filled her ears. _Not when, but if. _The Oracle shivered but stopped it fearing that even a bit of movement could cause unwanted attention to her barrel. The sound of small movements threatened to knock down her eardrums. She then heard sniffing which was followed by a 'click' as something was flung onto the ground and a thud. _What was that? _The air was split by a scream of rage as the barrel next to her shook violently. _Nico, what are you doing?_

Nico jumped onto the manticore's back without thinking about the possible painful consequences. He drew his sword right while in the air and pointed it right in front of him. A roar tore through his body when his sword sunk into the monster. The manticore swung a hand behind itself to try to get a hold on Nico. Expertly, he dodged it and continued to hold his sword in. "Ahhhhhh!" the manticore screamed in pain. "Killing me once will not affect anything! I will be brought back to life no matter how many times you slay me!" "Then I'll make sure that you die every time you do!" Nico shouted and drove his sword deeper into the monster's back. Pretty soon, only a pile of dust was left but the ground sucked it up in a moment. _There's plenty more waiting for you! _

Sam had watched the whole fight through a crack and he couldn't help but notice the bravery of Nico. _That manticore's gonna have a headache whenever he tries to remember how many times Nico beat the pulp out of him. _A grin cracked his face at the funny though but he still didn't move even though the manticore was dead. The cramping condition of the barrel had stiffened his muscle causing him some pain as he started to move. He heard someone walk up next to his barrel and rip off the top. It was Nico. "Hey, Sam, you a bit stuck?" "Yeah, could you pull me out?" "Sure." Nico grabbed one of Sam's hands and pulled the son of Hypnos out. Groaning, Sam rubbed his hands against the sore and numb parts of his body. "That was pretty brave of you to just jump onto its back." "Yeah, well, he crushed my locket." Nico's face showed great pain as Sam sympathized. "I'm sorry about that." "Don't be, it was my fault anyway."

The last barrel's top flew off and landed in front of their feet. Rachel stumbled out and landed hard on her knees. "Ouch, are you all right?" Nico asked. "Uh," the Oracle groaned, "I'm fine." After a few minutes of stretching, her face became serious. "I heard about your locket. Here take the one I have." She was about to give him the locket she had but Nico shook his head. "I dropped mines. I want you to have it for now." Rachel stood shocked and surprised at Nico's statement. The fear of losing this locket was added to her already huge amount of worries. She swallowed and replied, "I won't lose it." "Okay, now let's get going before we have to hide in barrels again!"

Travis Stoll and his bro, Conner, were running away from a very angry salesman. "You know I can't understand why he's angry at us," Travis said. "Um, maybe because we sold him a rock inside of a phone." "What, the box was genuine! It took me four hours to make it look new and there wasn't even a scratch!" "Yeah, but you still cheated him." "I'll get you maggots if it's the last thing I do!" shouted the salesman. "Well, let's hope that when he does, it _is _the last thing he does." "Uh, Connor?" "Yeah?" "Is it just me or does that guy have knives in his hands. Connor looked back and yelped as a knife whistled by his ears. "Yup, he sure does! Now run!"

The Stoll Brothers made a sharp turn into a deserted alley and dived behind a trashed couch. The salesman zipped by at top speed. "Phew, that guy really must hate us, huh?" Travis asked puffing. "No kidding! But I guess we did cause him quite a bit of trouble." "Well, at least we didn't hang his underwear on his shop's door." "Yeah, now that was a good prank." "Indeed it is my brother. That goes into the Hall of Pranks all right." "Do you think we're in trouble for leaving the camp without Chiron's permission?" "Hmm, good question. Let's hurry up and use the money we got from that guy and head back before morning." "So what should we use it on?" "How about some discipline?" a voice asked behind them.

Both of the experienced prank crusaders jumped at the sound and faced the voice. "Ha Ha Ha! Easy boys! It's just me, your father." "Dad?" the Stoll brothers said in disbelief. "What are you doing here?" "Well, I wanted to see if you wanted some adventure. You two interested?" "Sure, no problem, Dad!" Travis piped. "Yup, we're ready for anything!" Connor added. "Great! Just brace yourselves for a killer and a huge monster." "Huh?" Suddenly, the Stoll Brothers felt themselves spin into a world of streaks of light before being dumped onto Nico!

Sam had seen some things that were beyond normal but seeing two teenage boys drop onto Nico from nowhere was just freaky! "Uhh, who's shoe is in my face?" Nico demanded. "Nico, is that you Death Breath?" one of the boys asked. "Uh, great, the Stoll Brothers! Of all the people who could have dropped out of the sky, why did it have to be these two?" "You know we're standing right here," said the other boy. "Exactly why I said it aloud. Now get off me!" "Okay, okay, Mr. Grumpy Pants," replied the first boy. Rachel shouted, "How in the world did you end up so suddenly in Australia, Sydney?" "We're in Sydney? Oh yeah! Where's the kangaroos?" asked the second boy. "Hey, who are you?" the other boy said as he pointed toward Sam.

Intros were made briefly. Well, that is after Nico told them that a crazy killer and huge monster was after them. "The name's Connor and here's my brother, Travis. We're both sons of Hermes. "My name's Sam. I'm a son of Hypnos." "You," Travis said in disbelief, "you're joking! You look more like a son of Ares!" "Yeah, all that the Hypnos kids do is sleep all day. You like you could take on a dozen monsters," Connor stated. "Um, thanks, but I'm really a son of Hypnos."

Both of the Stoll brothers had their jaws open for a minute before Nico shouted at them to snap out of it. "Holy Smokes! Wait till the boys here this!" Travis shouted. They would have gone on about if Nico hadn't given each of them a sock in the head. "Yoooowww!" they both screamed. "We have to get to the Sydney Operah House." "Why's that?" Travis said with his hands on top of the spot Nico had hit. "Because that's the location of the next clue." "Huh, what clue?" "To the-. How'd you get here anyway?" "Um, let's just say we were being chased by an angry salesman with knives because we sold him a rock instead of a phone. Then our dad appeared and asked us if we wanted an adventure. We said yes and here we are."

"You sold a rock?" Nico asked. "Sure, all you got to do is just-." "Moving on. I'm on a quest to find out more about your past." "Oh, that's boring." Sam and Rachel had to restrain Nico from stabbing Travis in the guts. "Hey, hey, I'm just joking. So, we heard that you've been running into a lot of trouble." "That's an understatement," Sam said, "we've been running into tons of problems!" "So, who's this crazy killer you've been having problems with?" Connor asked. "That would be me!" said the dark-cloaked figure as he stepped into view. "You, how'd you find us so quickly?" Nico asked with rage. "Your uncle didn't even put up much of a fight. He's probably rotting on the pavement back in Hong Kong." Anger gave Nico renewed energy. "You'll pay for that!" "Looks like those hopeless fools joined you as well." "Hey, we're right here!" Travis shouted.

Nico sighed. "Travis, Conner, that's the whole point!" "Come here and we'll show you what the Stoll Brothers can do!" "Uh, bro?" "Yeah?" "We don't have weapons." "Oh, you're right." From the sky, two swords and shields dropped on top of them. "Oww, I see why you didn't like it when we dropped onto you," Connor said painfully to Nico. "Hey, dad," Travis said to the sky, "thanks for the weapons but could you work on your aim." "It does not matter that you have weapons." "All of you will die!" "If that's the case, then we'll take you down with us," Nico replied coldly.

**Good? Bad? Suggestions? Please Review. I'm holding another vote on what will Helio's weapon be. Here it is:**

**Huge Sword**

**Scythe**

**Spiked Mace**

**Crossbow that shoots out poisoned bolts**

**Battle Axe**

**Please put your vote in!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello Everybody! Thank You Wrothmonk for reviewing. I admit that it was pretty abrupt. Please continue to suggest. And Thank You Silvershine Moonlight! I will put the crossbow in the story! :P Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 20

Nico was confident that the five of them against Helio would a piece of cake. Well, that was until Helio took out two huge crossbows. "Holy Moly!" exclaimed Connor. "Those look exactly like the crossbows we used to launch our smoke bombs into the Demeter Cabin." Sam gave them a shocked look and turned toward Nico mouthing the words 'Did they really do that?' Nico replied, "You don't want to know." "Believe us when we say it," Rachel said,  
>"you really don't want to know." "Hey, you know we can hear you!" Travis shouted. "Silence you fools! Get ready to die!" Helio stated as he fired his crossbows. "Look out!" Sam said as he dived behind a trashcan. The others also jumped for cover. Two bolts flashed by the area they had just been. <em>Ugh, this reminds me way too much about the manticore!<em>

Travis and Connor were taking cover behind a car from Helio's deadly crossbows. "Yeesh, what's up with this guy? Did he swallow a frog or something?" Travis asked. A swarm of bolts hit the car. "I think you made him angry," Connor said nervously. A bolt hit the rearview mirror of the car which was only a few inches away from Travis' head. "Yup, I really did." "Why don't we use our shields to block his shots?" "Better than waiting for him to get a lucky shot at us." They both raised their shields in a way that they could crawl toward a direction while being fully protected. Bolts from the crossbows clanged off the shield as the Stoll Brothers headed toward Nico and Rachel who were taking cover behind some barrels. "Hey, Connor, is it just me or did he stop shooting." "Hmm, yeah, you're right." "Then doesn't that mean that he could be anywhere since we can't see him?" "Uh, yeah, I guess so." "Hmph, I guess you two aren't exactly clueless." "Is it just me or does he sound very close." "I stand corrected." "You're right Conner." "You two are idiots!" "It almost sounds like he's right in front of us." "I am!"

Nico had experienced first-hand how annoying and infuriating the Stoll Brothers could be like when they had a conversation. _But in a life and death situation, it could easily bring the death factor up. _But when Helio said, "I am!" Nico knew that the Stoll Brothers were in trouble. He peeked over his barrel only to behold the sight of Helio on top of the Stoll Brothers. One foot on Connor and the other on Travis. "You're pretty annoying for idiots!" Helio said. "Yeah, we've heard that insult many times," said Connor gasping for breath. "I'm not surprised." "Yeah, but you're an idiot for taking on idiots who specialize on fighting other idiots," Travis added in a wheezing voice. "You do know that that means that you guys actually admit you're idiots?" remarked Rachel. "Hey, that was-. Hmm, yeah, I guess that is true but it's still rude to say it right in front of us!" Travis shouted. "Quiet!" Helio shouted. "You are all idiots to think you can beat me!" He positioned each crossbow so that they were aimed at each of the Stoll Brother's hearts. "Now, it's time for you to die!"

"Wait, I'm too young to die!" said Connor. "Me, too!" Travis added. What looked like a puny complaint was in fact a distraction which Sam quickly took advantage of. He threw his staff like a spear toward Helio, who quickly stepped of the Stoll Brothers to get out of the way. In a flash, the Prankers Of The Century grabbed their weapons from the ground and knocked the two menacing crossbows out of their attacker's hands. "I'm guessing that this wasn't what you were expecting to happen when you came here to kill us," Travis said with a smirk. Sam retrieved his staff and got ready to use it if necessary. They cornered Helio to a wall cutting off any possible escape routes. Nico stepped forward and said triumphantly, "You're defeated. Better give up now or else we might have to kill you." "Oh, is that a burst of courage all of a sudden?" Helio cackled. All of the others frowned. Nico thought nervously, _What else does he have up his sleeve? _"You think this is over? I'll tell you once and only once! Until I have wiped out all of the De Angelos, my soul will not rest!" A familiar and blood-chilling roar made everyone except Helio jump. "Run?" Connor asked. "Yeah, run," replied Nico.

"It's no use!" laughed Helio hysterically. "Monsters are surrounding you this second. Why don't you let me kill you to save you from a much more painful death?" Nico grimaced. _What do we do now? _"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Helio stated as he drew something out of his sleeve. _Throwing daggers! When I meant 'What else does he have up his sleeves?', I didn't mean it literally. _"Watch out!" Rachel shouted as she dodged a razor sharp dagger. The Stoll brothers had just enough time to raise their shields which blocked several knives. Nico dropped down onto the ground and rolled trying to avoid getting hit. Only Sam seemed to have no problem as he easily deflected any dagger that came his way. _Lucky, _Nico thought jealously as he took cover behind the Stoll Brothers. _I wish that I could do that with my sword. _Then his mind suddenly stopped at the thought. _Hmm, maybe I can. _The sensible part of him told him to just stay down and think up a brilliant escape plan. Unfortunately, Nico didn't listen to his smart side and acted with what some professionals might say 'recklessness.'

Ever so slowly, he took a peek over the Stoll Brothers. Helio, after seeing that Sam had become a problem, began to target most of his knives at the son of Hypnos. Nico wondered grudgingly, _How many daggers does this guy even have? _Three daggers struck Connor's shield. _A bit too many, _he thought answering his own question. After waiting a few more moments, he peeked again and found an opportunity to strut his stuff. He stood up straight and tried his best to deflect any dagger heading his way. A dagger clanged off his sword and another flashed by dangerously closeto his ear. "What's this? A burst of courage from the son of Hades? I'll make you regret you ever stood up to me!" "Uh, is that figurative or is that what Nico just did right now?" asked Travis peeking over his shield. "I think he meant both because I mean there's no way he could be this mad at Death Breath because he just stood up right now so he must have stood up to Mr. Crazy-With-His-Daggers a lot of times," replied Connor in a scientist's kind of voice.

_Oh great, daggers will probably be sticking out of my body because of these two. Maybe I shouldn't have ever stood up, _Nico thought sadly. "You two fools will be the last to die because I will make both of your deaths excruciating!" roared Helio. "Uh, Connor, what does excruciating mean?" asked Travis. "Um, I don't know either," replied Connor before asking the man assaulting them, "could you speak modern English?" "This is modern English you stupid nin-com-poops!" Helio's voice fired back. "This guy must have dropped out during pre-school because of the way he's talking. What do you think?" Travis said to Connor. "Hmm, he's too good for pre-school. I'd say he dropped out on first grade." Nico saw the dangerous flash of light in Helio's eyes. _This will end very badly!_

**So what'd ya think? Yes, I know it's short but I'm really busy. I'll try to update as soon as possible! Please Review and tell me what you think. If you review, I'll send you a sneak peak of my next chapter! **


	21. Chapter 21

**Here's the next chapter!**** I would like to thank ****AthenaGrayEyes98**** for favoriting and story alerting my story.****Also I would like to thank Guest for reviewing! ****This will contain ****the pre-battle viewpoints and the beginning of the fight****. So be ready!**

Chapter 3

Percy

Connor and Travis gave everyone ammo clips filled to the max. Then they explained that there would be first a Capture The Flag where the team that gets the least amount of points is automatically disqualified from the next challenge. Next is a One Shot One Kill which is basically a duel between the two remaining teams. Each of them will produce a fighter to battle in the arena. If a person gets hit, then he or she is automatically disqualified. The last group standing will win. To be truthful, I'm surprised that this idea came from the Hermes Cabin not the Athena Cabin. Uh oh! It's time to see what team you're supposed to be on. Wish me luck!

Annabeth

Ha Ha! This will be quite interesting. Percy is on Team 1 which has blue T-shirts while I'm on Team 3 which has red T-shirts. Team 2, which includes Katie, has black T-shirts. When he saw that he was not with me, he just gulped and looked nervous. I'll make sure he gives me some more respect during the battle. He'll be my main target and I plan to show no mercy. But there's an uneasy feeling that he's hiding something. I can't get the thought that he might just be acting. Well, I guess I'll found out during the battle.

Connor

Muhahaha! I just love laughing in an evil voice! Anyway I just found out that I'm on Team 1. Wahoo! We have Percy with us! I mean, seriously, he's practically invincible from his swim in the River of Styx. So he's a big point in the team. My Vulcan's itching for battle! Is it just me or is Travis acting a bit funny. I mean sure, we are the kings of pranks so we're supposed to be funny. But what I mean is that he's acting weird. Okay, what I meant was that he's acting weirder than usual. He keeps on working on something in his closet. I've been trying to pick the lock of it but it looks like Travis suspected it. I can't even get it open with my lock-picking kit. Now that is a handy tool. I remember opening the Aphrodite's Cabin's door right when they were in the middle of putting on their make-up and straightening their hair. I don't know why, but it seems that those Aphrodite's kids consider that humiliating, not to mention that they grabbed me and made me look like a girl supermodel. I mean, seriously, they even put lipstick on me and made me wear high-heels and guess what else? They took a picture of me and posted it on the web! How lame is that? Whoops, that's the sound to gather. I gotta go!

Travis

You know, I sometimes wish that I wouldn't get into such bad situations, like the one I'm in right now. "What kind of bad situation?" you ask. Oh, nothing really, except the fact that Clarisse wants my head on a stake because I mistakenly thought she was Travis and shot her in the head with five bullets before realizing my mistake. Oh, and did I mention she's the same team as me? Guess, not. Talk about good allies. Anyway, I'm currently hiding behind a barrel and-. Wait, maybe I should tell you what happened from the beginning. When the Capture-The-Flag started, there was only word to describe it, Chaos! When Chiron shouted, "Begin," I wanted to add later "killing!" because that's what it seemed like. Like I said before, these guns hurt and when you get hit by a dozen bullets that make your skin sting like crazy, well, you kind of have the need to do something back. So that's why I started to hunt Travis. Okay, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "How in the world did you get Travis and Clarisse mixed up?" Well, they did, um, look alike, um, sort of. I mean, they had the same armor, uh, actually maybe not but, um, they look alike… Okay, okay, I admit it. It was stupid of me to think that I mistakenly thought Clarisse was Connor. Happy? Anyway, after making Clarisse want to bury me alive, I hid behind the barrel that is currently being held over Clarisse's head to be thrown at me! Ahhhh!

Clarisse

Argggh! I hate those Stoll Brothers! Travis will regret he ever crossed my path! If you want to know what happen to me when this started, I used up every single bullet in my ammo clip, each one hitting a different person, and then I grabbed a Hermes Cabins boy from a different team and used my pistol, what was its stupid name again, Nightlighter or something, to knock some sense into him. After that, I just used my Axe to knock out another dozen kids. That's when I felt five nasty bullets hit my head. When I saw it was Travis, I just heaved my axe over my head and started running toward him. I gave him a good whack before he made a sharp turn toward the Big House. I would have caught him if it wasn't for some pesky campers who got in my way. I took care of them very shortly but it gave that stupid Connor some time to hide somewhere. However, his gun was thrown aside not too far from some barrels. He's just asking to get pummeled. I sneaked up to the barrel where I could hear his breathing and waited for his breathing to calm down hoping to scare him when he's relaxed. After a minute, he began to breathe normally and that's when I picked up the barrel scaring the daylights out of him. I planned to drop the barrel right on top of him until I was doused by a huge roar of water. I was knocked right off my feet only to realize that I wasn't wet anymore. I looked up and saw Percy with a huge water gun smiling before blasting me again. He can fire all of the water in his water ammo clip with full force in just a second because he can control water. To top it off, he can just keep putting the water he shot out right back into his gun in about the same time! What a cheater!

**So what'd you think? It need a little something? Like it? Didn't like? Please review!**


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